The main goal of the VIRIATO project is to develop, build, validate and demonstrate an integrated prototype of a suborbital micro-launcher.
PROJECT DESIGNATION | VIRIATO – Veículo Inovador Reutilizável para Investigação e Alavancagem de Tecnologia Orbital |
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PROJECT CODE | POCI-01-0247-FEDER-046100 |
MAIN OBJECTIVE | The VIRIATO projecto (Veículo inovador reutilizável para investigação e alavancagem de tecnologia orbital) has a goal of developing and demonstrating a suborbital launch vehicle that will serve as a test plaform for several subsystems in a future portuguese microlauncher. |
INTERVENTION REGION | Norte, Centro, Lisboa e Alentejo |
BENEFICIARIES ENTITIES | OMNIDEA Lda., CEIIA, TEKEVER SPACE – SISTEMAS ESPACIAIS Lda., INEGI, SPIN.WORKS S.A., INSTITUTO DE SOLDADURA E QUALIDADE, EDISOFT, UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO, AEDCP, +ATLANTIC, UNIVERSIDADE DE ÉVORA, OPTIMAL STRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS, EEA |
APPROVAL DATE | 23-11-2020 |
BEGIN DATE | 01-07-2020 |
CONCLUSION DATE | 30-06-2023 |
TOTAL COST | FEDER – 5.885.598,28 EUR (Project), 476.178,57 EUR (Spin.Works) |
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM EU | FEDER – 4.269.773,82 EUR (Project), 373.590,16 EUR (Spin.Works) |
The integration and eventual in-flight demonstration of the suborbital vehicle will highlight not only the capabilities of the Portuguese industry, but also the opportunity to directly enhance the vehicle through launch services. In the first case, the consortium entities will have an important opportunity to demonstrate their skills internationally and attract new customers or partners in future projects in the area, while in the second, the opportunity for direct commercial valuation also brings the possibility of getting to know and having as clients entities strongly linked to innovation, not only in the space sector but in various other fields of technology.
For the VIRIATO project, Spin.Works’ work focuses entirely on PPS4 – Instrumentation & Control. The PPS4 plays a very important role in the VIRIATO project as its main objective is to develop the avionics and control systems for the launcher and test and qualify them in order to integrate the demonstrator prototype foreseen in this application.
Within the subsystems that make up the avionics systems that will be the target of research and development in this PPS, Spin.Works’ contributions will be:
The development process for these components includes the research, development, testing and validation steps necessary to ensure that the GNC subsystem has the functionality and performance necessary to integrate the proposed launcher. These phases are as follows:
The VIRIATO project intends to be a fundamental step towards establishing an essentially native capability to perform a space launch. The interest in developing this capability comes essentially from two factors:
In this context, the VIRIATO project aims to develop and demonstrate a national suborbital vehicle that, in addition to its potential effective uses, will serve as a platform for the
development of native technologies applicable to orbital launchers and eventually, a Portuguese micro-launcher.
To achieve these goals, a consortium was brought together that encompasses a relevant fraction of the national space industry, with demonstrated skills in key areas such as space propulsion, flight-capable avionics, flight control systems, high-performance structures and operations support equipment. This consortium not only has years of experience resulting from the available human resources allocated to research and development, but also a set of equipment and infrastructure that will facilitate the successful execution of the project.
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