The booster storage building (BSB) is currently under construction at the Guiana Space Centre on the grounds of the Ariane 6 launch facility (ELA-4). Once complete, the building will be a key element in enabling the rapid ramp-up of Ariane 6 flights.
Measuring 60 metres long by 28 metres wide and 32 metres high, the BSB building will have the capacity to store up to 12 P120C boosters at the same time. While it will predominately be used to store the Ariane 6 variant of the P120C boosters (ESR), two spots will be available for those used as the first stage of Vega C (A1A).
“The BSB will make powder boosters available for different launches,” said Véronique Montes-Coulomb, infrastructure project manager at CNES. “It is an essential logistics space to be able to ensure significant launch rates.”
Each booster will have a mass of 140 tonnes, and the convoy that transports the boosters to the integration building will reach 330 tonnes. As a result, the building’s foundation needs to be of a robust construction. BSB is built on top of a “forest” of 256 pylons, each measuring between 12 and 23 metres long. Each pylon is capable of supporting 149 tonnes. Above the pylons is a concrete slab 60 centimetres thick.
Boosters will be transported from storage positions within the building to the loader with the use of a system of rails inside the building. According to CNES, the rails allow for placement with extremely fine precision in the range of 0.5 millimetres.
As the BSB will be the largest pyrotechnic equipment storage building in Europe, it has been located at the end of an 850-metre road to mitigate the impact of a potential disaster.
CNES expects the construction of BSB to be completed by August 2024. The building will then undergo a technical qualification campaign. This process is expected to last approximately two months, with the building becoming available for operational use in October 2024.
