A new 5m (16ft) diameter payload fairing developed by Zurich-based Contraves will make its debut during the launch of a Lockheed Martin Atlas V booster on an ILS International Launch Services flight next month.
The Atlas AV-003 booster will be carrying the Rainbow communications satellite, which will be encased in the new and distinctive bulbous fairing made by Contraves. The fairing will also encompass the Centaur second stage of the booster.
CountdownContraves (Hall 5a, C7-D7-E7) has supplied fairings for all European Arianespace vehicles since Ariane 1 in 1979.
The US Atlas V booster will also be flying for the first time with strap-on solid rocket boosters provided by Aerojet. The Atlas V can fly with up to five but on this flight will carry two, adding more than 300,000kg (1,300kN) of thrust.
The Contraves fairing will feature in a countdown demonstration test at the Lockheed Martin launch pad 41 at Cape Canaveral on 23 June, with the entire Atlas V being rolled out the short distance from its vehicle assembly building.
The last Atlas V mission on 13 May was launched 12h after the AV-002 booster had been rolled out to the launch pad, a record for a US launch.
The Contraves fairings are lighweight, yet extremely rigid as a result of the use of composite technology, with aluminium honeycomb core and carbon fibre reinforced plastic face sheets, says the company.
The number of layers of these materials and cork thermal insulation depends on the predicted flight dynamic loads of the particular launcher being used.
Contraves previously introduced a new fairing for the Ariane 5.
Source: Flight Daily News
