CNES and students SERA-2 experimental rocket launches successfully from Sweden
SERA-2 is the second experimental supersonic rocket developed for the PERSEUS project (Projet Étudiant de Recherche Spatiale Européen Universitaire et Scientifique), derived directly from SERA-1, also successfully launched on 7 May 2014 from SSC’s Esrange launch base.
SERA-2 is a demonstrator designed to prove the ability of its technologies to meet higher performance targets than the ARES Evolution rockets, also conceived for PERSEUS.
Designed to bring performance improvements and above all to provide more measurements, SERA-2 is an enhanced version of SERA-1, with which it shares the same key objectives. The main objective is to demonstrate the ability of the technologies developed for PERSEUS to cope with flight environments closer to those of a fully operational launcher.
The PERSEUS technology development programme is part of the research and innovation policy led by CNES’s Launch Vehicles Directorate (DLA). As such, it is a unique tool for motivating young people, students and volunteer enthusiasts to take up careers in space, developing innovative solutions applicable to small launchers, through the participative collaboration of CNES, Evry Val d’Essonne University, top engineering schools, aerospace associations and key partners from the aerospace industry (contractors, mid-size firms and institutions). It gives students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through real-world projects, ranging from construction of modules dedicated to specific fields of science to ground or flight system demonstrators.
The SERA-2 demonstrator offers a unique chance for students to follow the full life cycle of a rocket right through to supersonic flight, and to forge ties with CNES and industry.
SERA-2 is the result of a four-way collaboration between the S3 (ISAE aeronautics and space institute), OCTAVE (Evry Val d’Essonne University), CLC (Ecole Centrale de Lyon) and ISS (IPSA) student associations, managed by the PERSEUS project team (MI-GSO, IPSA, GAREF Aérospatial).
See the launch at http://www.perseus.fr/fr/
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Contacts
Pascale Bresson Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39 pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Julien Watelet Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 78 37 julien.watelet@cnes.fr