ENSURING LIQUID AND SOLID PROPELLANTS AVAILABILITY FOR SPACECRAFTS AND LAUNCHERS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF EVOLVING INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS

摘要

Some raw materials, such as ammonium perchlorate for solid propulsion, or MMH (methyl hydrazine) for liquid propulsion, are critical in terms of final application performances. Access to these products is of paramount importance for their users: there are only few producers in the world, compliance with specifications and reproducibility is mandatory and delivery of these raw materials is subject to export licences. It is therefore essential for space programs to secure their availability. Today, during the entire life cycle of the product, from the start of its elaboration to the end of its life, producers and users have to take the entire spectrum of Health, Safety and Environmental regulations and their likely evolutions into account. The purpose of this paper is to highlight SME's approach in terms of Health, Safety and Environmental matters and industrial policies, to ensure the availability of these highly sensitive products for space applications.