Tests of the P120C motor for Ariane 6 and Vega C

Background

Developed by ArianeGroup and Avio, the P120C, the world’s largest monolithic carbon-fibre solid rocket motor, is the first stage of Vega C and the strap-on booster of Ariane 6: 13.5 m long, 3.4 m in diameter, 142 tonnes of propellant, 4,500 kN average thrust for 135 seconds. Before flying, it was fired three times on the Kourou solid booster test bench operated by CNES: on 16 July 2018, 28 January 2019 and 7 October 2020.

What we did

On 28 January 2019 we filmed the second test by drone: CNES published this footage on its YouTube channel as “2e essai du P120C (Ariane 6) - Images drone”. In July 2020 we followed the transfer of the third motor, the P120C QM2, from its integration building to the bench, ahead of the last test on 7 October. Our photos of this transfer are credited CNES – ESA / Sentinel.