M10 (rocket engine)

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MR10
Vega-E
References
Notes[1][2][3]

MR10 (previously known as M10 and LM10-MIRA) is a

liquid methane fuel; and "10" denoting the original target of 10 tonnes of thrust. The engine was renamed the MR10 in September 2024 in honour of the late Mikhail Rudnykh, who had served as Avio's head of cryogenic propulsion systems and led the engine's development.[9]

Overview

The MR10 engine is the first operational European

AVUM 4th upper stage. An industrial team directed by Avio with companies of Austria, Belgium, France, Czech Republic, Romania and Switzerland will manufacture the engine. The MR10 minimum thrust requirements are a thrust of 98 kN (22,000 lbf) with a propellant mixture ratio of 3.4 and a minimum specific impulse of 362s.[1][10]

Development

A feasibility study on improving Vega began in 2004, when the rocket was still in development, with the aim of increase performance, reduce costs and move away from toxic

KBKhA started the collaboration for the development of such an engine under an agreement signed between Italian and Russian governments in Moscow on November 28, 2000. The first phase of the collaboration, ended in 2008, aimed at designing a concept for a 10t thrust LOx-LNG engine. The second phase of the collaboration focused instead on designing, manufacturing and testing a 7.5t thrust LM10-MIRA demonstrator engine. The engine was successfully tested in June 2014 in Voronezh, Russia.[5]

After the end of the collaboration with KBKhA, Avio continued the development of MR10 under the Vega-Evolution program returning to the original target thrust of 10t. Objectives were finalizing development of main subsystems such as

ALM 3D printed Thrust Chamber Assembly (TCA).[2] A subscale model of the TCA was tested successfully on 13 November 2018 in Colleferro, Italy.[11]

In February 2020 a full scale engine prototype with a 3D printed TCA was successfully tested at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, firing 19 times for a total of 450 seconds.[12]

On May 6 2022, the engine test and qualification campaign started in Avio's new Space Propulsion Test Facility (SPTF) at the Salto di Quirra with a single firing of 20 seconds.[7] The first series of testing concluded successfully in July 2022 with a total ignition time of more than 800 seconds.[13]

See also

Comparable engines

References

  1. ^ a b "MR10 Engine". Avio. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  2. ^
    doi:10.13009/EUCASS2019-315
    . Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  3. ^ "ESA propulsion projects". www.esa.int. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  4. ^ R. Battiston (30 June 2016). "Italian Contribution to Innovative Space Propulsion & Re-entry missions" (PDF). CESMA, Centro Studi Militari Aeronautici "Giulio Douhet". Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ^
    S2CID 139531422
    . Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  6. S2CID 187915217
    . Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  7. ^ a b Cozzi, Emilio (13 November 2018). "Il primo propulsore europeo a metano liquido ha passato il collaudo". Wired Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  8. ^ "New launch service contracts for Vega C and new development activities". Avio (Press release). 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  9. ^ Parsonson, Andrew (16 October 2024). "Avio to Continue MR10 Rocket Engine Testing This Month". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  10. ^ "Le nuove sfide della propulsione e dei sistemi di lancio spaziali in Avio" [Avio's new challenges in propulsion and space launch systems] (PDF) (in Italian). Polytechnic University of Turin. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  11. ESA
    . Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  12. ESA
    . 3 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  13. ^ "First half 2022 results". Avio (Press release). 9 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
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