HM7B

HM7B

Country of origin	France
First flight	24 December 1979
Designer	Snecma
Manufacturer	Snecma
Application	Upper stage engine
Predecessor	HM4
Successor	Vinci
Status	Retired
Liquid-fuel engine
Propellant	LOX / LH2
Mixture ratio	5:1
Cycle	Gas-generator
Configuration
Chamber	1
Nozzle ratio	83.1:1
Performance
Thrust, vacuum	62.2 kN (13,980 lbf)[1]
Chamber pressure	3.7 MPa (37 bar)
Specific impulse, vacuum	444.6 s (4.36 km/s)
Dimensions
Length	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Diameter	0.992 m (3 ft 3.1 in)
Dry mass	165 kg (364 lb)
Used in
HM7B: Ariane 5 ECA Ariane 4 Ariane 3 Ariane 2 HM7(A): Ariane 1
References
References	[1][2][3]

The HM7B was a European cryogenic upper stage rocket engine used on the vehicles in the Ariane rocket family.^[3] It was replaced by Vinci, which acts as the new upper stage engine on Ariane 6.^[4] Nearly 300 engines have been produced to date.^[3]

History

The development of HM7 engine begun in 1973 on a base of HM4 rocket engine. It was designed to power a third stage of newly constructed Ariane 1, the first launch system for European Space Agency. Maiden flight took place on 24 December 1979 successfully placing CAT-1 satellite on the orbit. With the later introduction of Ariane 2 and Ariane 3 it became necessary to improve the performance of the upper stage engine. This was achieved by extending the nozzle length and increasing the chamber pressure from 30 to 35 bar, increasing the engine's specific impulse and resulting in a nominal burn time increase from 570 to 735 seconds. Qualification tests were completed in 1983 and this upgraded variant was designated HM7B. It was also used on the Ariane 4 vehicle's upper stage where the burn time was further increased to 780 seconds, and since 12 February 2005 it's also used on the upper stage of Ariane 5 ECA.^[2]

Overview

The HM7B is a regeneratively cooled gas generator rocket engine fed with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. It has no restart capability: the engine is continuously fired for 950 seconds in its Ariane 5 version (780 s in the Ariane 4). It provides 62.7 kN of thrust with a specific impulse of 444.6 s.^[1] The engine's chamber pressure is 3.5 MPa.^[2]

See also

• Spacecraft propulsion
• Timeline of hydrogen technologies
• Comparison of orbital rocket engines
• HM4

Comparable engines

• YF-75
• RL-10
• Vinci
• CE-7.5

References

1. B.T.C. Zandbergen. "Simple mass and size estimation relationships of pump fed rocket engines for launch vehicle conceptual design". Retrieved 14 August 2017.
2. Airbus Air and Defence. "HM-7 and HM-7B Rocket Engine - Thrust Chamber". Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
3. Snecma S.A. "HM7B - Snecma". Archived from the original on 2013-04-19. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
4. Safran Group (December 2012). "Safran: Shooting for the StarS" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.