The agency is also monitoring the development of a space plane

Jul 18, 2012 13:33 GMT  ·  By

Following a bidding competition, the European Space Agency (ESA) has selected two companies to lead the development effort on a new heavy-lift delivery system, Astrium Space Transportation and OHB AG will lead two consortia dedicated to this objective.

Interestingly, the bidding competition featured a third company, Britain-based Reaction Engines Ltd. The design the organization entered into the contest was not in tune with what ESA requested, but it has garnered a lot of interest – engineers at the company presented an amazing space plane.

According to an announcement made by ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain on July 10, the two consortia will receive €2 million ($2.5 million) each, over a 1-year contract, Space reports.

In addition to Astrium Space Transportation, a major contractor for the ESA Ariane 5 rocket, one of the two consortia includes Italy-based aerospace company ELV, which is the prime contractor for the space agency's newest rocket, the small-satellite launcher Vega.

The other consortium will be led by Germany-based OHB AG, which is also a major Ariane 5 components supplier, primarily through its MT Aerospace division. All companies that won the newest ESA bid will need to complete their work by this November.

This is when ESA representatives meet to establish the agency's avenues for development over the coming years, and also the budget levels that will go with it. By then, the two consortia will need to come up with viable plans for the New European Launch Service (NELS).

In the meantime, ESA will continue to monitor the progress made by Reaction Engines, Ltd. The company has been developing the Skylon space plane for nearly a decade. Experts from the ESA ESTEC technology directorate, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, have been monitoring its progress.

The most important component for Skylon is SABRE, the Synthetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine. The motor would act as a jet engine in the atmosphere, and as a rocket engine once in orbit. Developing this vehicle is expected to cost €10 to 12 billion over the next decade.

“Their proposal did not quite fit the requirements of our solicitation, so we could not really assess it. But we have seen some things that could be of interest, and our launcher directorate will begin talks starting July 18 to see if we can reach a technical understanding,” Dordain said.

The rocket ESA conducted the bidding competition for will have to be able to deliver cargo weighing between 3,000 and 6,500 kilograms (6,600 to 14,300 pounds) to geostationary transfer orbits. The development stage of the project is expected to cost €3 to 6 billion.