The test campaign of the engine that will power Ariane 6’s LLPM (Lower Liquid Propulsion Module) first stage finished on July 16, with the twenty-sixth and last test-bench-firing performed on the German space agency facilities, at Lampoldshaussen (Bade-Wurtemberg).

The test lasted 655 seconds, which makes a total of 13,798 seconds of test (or 3 hours, 49 minutes and 58 seconds) since January 22, 2018.

Optimized version.

Developed by ArianeGroup, the Vulcain 2.1 is an enhanced version of the Vulcain 2 engine powering Ariane 5’s cryogenic main stage (EPC), developed in 1988.

It was created with the objective to simplify and reduce costs of production. Its thrust in vacuum is equal to 1,360 kN.