Preliminary Design and Sizing of an Orbiter Propulsion S/S for a Mars Mission Using EcosimPro

Eleonora Massa

Preliminary Design and Sizing of an Orbiter Propulsion S/S for a Mars Mission Using EcosimPro.

Rel. Emanuele Martelli, Francesco Civerra. Politecnico di Torino, Master of science program in Aerospace Engineering, 2025

Abstract

This Master's thesis contributes to the Deep Space Platform (DSP) Phase A study, conducted in collaboration with Thales Alenia Space Italy (TASI) for the Technical Offer commissioned by the Italian Space Agency: "Phase A Industrial Activities of the Deep Space Platform Programme for Multi-Mission Activities Beyond Low Earth Orbit". The company's objective is to deliver a low-cost, high-flexibility, multi-mission platform tailored for the New Space Economy and designed to support future missions to the Moon, Mars, and Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). The primary focus of this work is the development of the platform's Chemical Propulsion Subsystem (S/S) numerical model, utilising the EcosimPro simulation environment and its leverage of the specialized European Space Propulsion System Simulation (ESPSS) libraries.

These libraries result from the European Space Agency's endeavour to establish an official European platform dedicated to analysing and simulating the behaviour and performance of complex spacecraft and launch-vehicle propulsion technologies, with the strategic aim of reducing the future necessity and cost of performing extensive physical testing on propulsion systems