ENLIGHTEN-ED project

“European iNitiative for Low cost, Innovative & Green High Thrust Engine – ENGINE DEMONSTRATION”

Start date : 1st March 2024
Duration : 36 months

ENLIGHTEN-ED project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe program under grant agreement No 101135156.

Project presentation :

The European space sector, a cornerstone of economic growth, is facing fierce global competition and technological upheaval. To preserve independent access to space, European launchers must slash prices by half in the short term, whereas long-term resilience demands the creation of a unified family of launchers with reusability functions. In this context, the EU-funded ENLIGHTEN-ED project is tasked with advancing reusable rocket engines. Leveraging additive manufacturing, AI and extremely low-cost subsystems, the project aims for on-ground engine demonstrations of a large field of new technologies by 2026, a crucial leap towards a more competitive European space future. Furthermore, the project’s consortium, comprising major aerospace actors, will pioneer a greener high-thrust engine based on liquid hydrogen.

Technical and economic impacts :

The space sector is a source of economic growth, jobs and exports, contributing to all Key Strategic Orientations of the EU strategic plan. Faced with growing competition and technological disruption, it is drastically vital to act in support of European space launchers development to preserve European independent access to space.

European launchers must improve their competitiveness by halving launch price in the short term. In the long term, Europe will create common building blocks for an integrated and competitive European family of launchers of all scales with reusability functionalities.
The purpose of ENLIGHTEN is to develop and test advanced production means and technologies for reusable rocket engines, following on the Prometheus® ESA program, in order to create a family of reusable, high-power engines fuelled by bio-methane or green hydrogen.
In the continuity of ENLIGHTEN, ENLIGHTEN-ED aims at maturate enabling technologies, subsystems, tools and processes by bringing them to TRL5/6. Then, ENLIGHTEN-ED will demonstrate the above technologies by engine on-ground demonstration tests by 2026 to reach TRL7.

In the frame of ENLIGHTEN-ED, a tailored consortium (including major aerospace actors, SME, RTO and a university) will prepare a demonstrator of green high thrust engine (GTHE) based on liquid hydrogen using:

• The latest advances in additive manufacturing to reduce the cost and number of engine parts
• Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to develop the first space engine health Monitoring System in Europe necessary to implement reusability
• New ultra-low-cost subsystems as engine ignition system, nozzle extension, electric valves and multi-functional lines

Therefore, ENLIGHTEN-ED will demonstrate the ability of such an ultra-low-cost engine to be rapidly operational and available for all European launcher families and thus strive to increase the competitiveness of European GTHE.

Project partners :

• Arianegroup Sas
• Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung Ev
• Edgise SA
• Anwendungszentrum Gmbh Oberpfaffenhofen
• Arianegroup Gmbh
• Deutsches Zentrum Fur Luft – Und Raumfahrt Ev
• Avio Spa
• Silicon Austria Labs Gmbh
• Aerospace Propulsion Products (A.p.p.) Bv
• Areelis Technologies Sarl
• Erneo
• Industrialisation Des Recherches Sur Les Procédés Et Les Applications Du Laser
• Adira Addcreative, S.A.
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• Aiko Srl
• Office National D’etudes Et De Recherches Aerospatiales
• Deloitte Conseil

Industrial context :

In the medium term, ENLIGHTEN-ED will contribute to Europe’s strategic autonomy in developing, deploying and using global space-based infrastructures, services applications and data. It will reinforce the EU’s independent capacity to access space, secure the autonomy of supply for critical technologies and equipment, and foster the EU’s space sector competitiveness. Horizon Europe funding provided to ENLIGHTEN-ED, in line with the Space Strategy for Europe, will contribute to 1) providing support for R&I activities on access to space and 2) preparing future evolutions of the European green and reusable launcher roadmap and space programme.

Key innovations :

• Reduce the number of special processes (less welding for example) which will reduce the associated cost and associated controls.
• Reduce the development time compared to casting/forging (several months/years to several weeks)
• Advance LMD process maturation and functional tests
• Optimize combustion devices design for the LMD manufacturing process
• Mature the LMD process (parameters, printing strategy) for the build of special (large) component
• Reduce manufacturing costs and lead-time for combustion device structures by more than 50%
• Improve the manufacturing process to reach a TRL 6/7

Industrial applications :

Enhancing EU strategic autonomy & EU independent capacity to access space :
ENLIGHTEN-ED results will contribute to reinforcing EU strategic autonomy by using only components / raw materials / technologies available in Europe. The different actors involved in this project are from European industries, research centres and universities only. Thus, this project mobilises European actors who will develop new components and new technologies