Applications

Greta, A New ESA Rocket Engine, Successfully Completes Testing

Additive manufacturing has established itself as a fundamental technology in rocket development, especially in the production of combustion chambers, as it allows for great freedom in terms of geometry. The most recent example of this application is the Greta engine,…

greta rocket
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Additive manufacturing has established itself as a fundamental technology in rocket development, especially in the production of combustion chambers, as it allows for great freedom in terms of geometry. The most recent example of this application is the Greta engine, a joint development by the European Space Agency (ESA) and ArianeGroup.

After completing its first test campaign, Greta has demonstrated stable operation during shutdowns and multiple starts. Although manufacturing details are often kept confidential, the ESA has mentioned that “Greta’s 30 cm high combustion chamber was built up in layers by melting metal powders with a laser.” This points to laser powder bed fusion, a technique that ArianeGroup has used in the past.

Greta is a 5 kN engine designed for upper stages such as Astris (Ariane 6) or future lunar landers.

What stands out most about Greta is the architecture of its combustion chamber. It incorporates complex channels built directly into the walls of the structure. These channels allow the coolant to circulate just a few millimeters from the combustion zone, where temperatures exceed 2000°C. Achieving this proximity is an engineering challenge that conventional metallurgy would struggle to solve.