Space research with Austrian technology

When the European Space Agency sends one of its satellites into space it has technology from Austria onboard.

Have you read the weather report today or maybe used a satnav? In that case you have already used space technology. Regardless whether we are talking about Earth observations, navigation, telecommunications or of course space research – satellites play a significant role. Reaching climate targets will also depend on satellites as the data they collect, their pictures and measurements, form the basis of climate research. Back in the day, the hole in the ozone layer was discovered by the latest space technology. And today we can look through clouds and darkness thanks to sophisticated radar technology. Data collected by satellites are indispensable for understanding and overseeing our environment. And such data is becoming more and more important for everyday applications.

The use of Earth observation can help shed new light on social and economic changes currently taking place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ESA and the European Commission have been working with European industry to investigate innovative approaches to monitor the impact of coronavirus lockdowns using data from the European Union’s Copernicus Sentinels as well as other Earth observation capabilities such as the Euro Data Cube and the Copernicus Data and Information Access Services. Together, they have developed the RACE dashboard which uses information derived from the latest satellite data to help monitor the impacts of the coronavirus lockdown and recovery on a local, regional and global scale.

The dashboard focuses on monitoring and analysing environmental parameters, such as air and water quality changes, agriculture productivity and economic activity (such as industrial production, construction and transport). It includes information derived from Earth observation satellite data provided by the Copernicus Sentinels and ESA Third Party Missions. The dashboard also includes contributions from Copernicus, Aerospacelab, Airbus, BIRA-IASB, CNR ISMAR, e-GEOS, EarthPulse, ECMWF, EMSA, EOX, Euro Data Cube, GMV, ICEEYE, KNMI, KSAT, Mundi Web Services, Planetek Hellas,

Space probe Solar Orbiter on its way to the sun. A protective shield and thermal insulation from RUAG Space offer protection from the intense heat.

RHEA, SERCO, S&T, S5P PAL, SEN4CAP, Sen4Stat, Sinergise, SISTEMA, SPACEKNOW, SRON, UCLouvain, the University of Bremen and Vodafone.

Austria in space

Austria has been working on space technology since the 1960s. By now, Austria is taking part in space probe missions and all satellites of the European Space Agency ESA have Austrian technology on board.

One of these technologies ensures that satellites can keep cool and comes from RUAG Space Austria, the European market leader in thermal insulation for space applications. “Austrian technology protects satellites from coldness and heat between about minus 150 degrees to plus 150 degrees Celsius,” says Andreas Buhl, Managing Director of RUAG Space Austria. The company makes its heat protection in its Lower Austrian factory in Berndorf. The insulation consists of several layers of metal coated plastic.

RUAG Space constructed the heat protection of the space probe Solar Orbiter for the European Space Agency. “Solar Orbiter is going to analyse solar winds, the so-called space weather. The satellite is going to get very close to the sun. Therefore, the heat protection has to meet the highest demands,” Buhl says. A special shield on the side of the sun will protect the satellite from the largest part of the heat load. RUAG Space cools the probe behind this shield: “The entire probe is covered in thermal insulation from Austria,“ Buhl says. The black thermal insulation comes from Berndorf and consists of several layers of metal-coated polyester and polyamide foils. Providing the thermal insulation system for the Solar Orbiter is so far the single-biggest thermal protection order for RUAG Space with an overall value of almost ten million euros.

Solar Orbiter’s launch in February from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is the start of its ten-year long journey to explore the sun. It is also this year’s personal highlight for Hans-Martin Steiner, CTO of Space & Avionics at Atos IT Solutions and Services

GmbH Austria, and Vice President of Austrospace. “The Austrian industry made essential contributions to this challenging mission that is being conducted by the European Space Agency and the US space agency NASA.”

With regards to the intense temperatures near the sun the heat protection of the Solar Orbiter needs to withstand temperatures of more than 500 degrees Celsius. At the same time, the fuel tanks of the probe are located on the other side, i.e. not directly in the sun. They need to offer protection from temperatures of about minus 180 degrees Celsius. RUAG Space developed and manufactured this highly complex thermal insulation for the Solar Orbiter in order to ensure its survival.

Atos Space delivered a test system that simulates Solar Orbiter’s software and hardware to ensure the smooth operation between the probe’s on-board computer and the peripheral subsystems. “The heart of this test system is a high-performance parallelised interface simulator, which we developed specifically for this purpose. The simulator contributed significantly to the improved performance during the satellite tests,” Steiner says.

Atos Space Austria

Atos IT Solutions and Services Austria is the European market leader in state-of-the-art satellite testing products and solutions. “Our cutting-edge technological expertise allows for the provision of end-to-end Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) infrastructures such as satellite platform, instrument and payload test benches,” says Steiner. “We are also the leading supplier of satellite communication monitoring and geolocalisation solutions with more than 25 percent of commercial transponders monitored by SkyMon worldwide.” Atos Austria is a well-recognised long-term development partner and supplier of Ground Segment solutions for mission control and earth observation.

Being a market leader, Atos always has something new up its sleeve. “One of our latest developments called ProUST univerSAS is currently revolutionising the electrical tests in satellite construction,” says CTO Hans-Martin Steiner. “The entire range of electrical tests is combined in a fully digital device. UniverSAS is not only unique in terms of power density, it is practically a ‘green’ technology thanks to its enormous energy efficiency. Therefore, it contributes massively to decarbonising satellite construction.”

ProUST univerSAS is being used both for testing individual satellites and in mass production of satellites. It is on the way to becoming a power test standard.

Photo: ESA

Solar Orbiter arrives at the Kennedy Space Center with its entire test system.

Austrospace President Max Kowatsch

Photo: feel image/Felicitas Matern “Austrospace brings Austria’s most important space technology actors from science and business together. Our association represents the common interests of its members before the national space agency FFG/ALR, the Ministry of Science and the political decision-makers.

Due to the heterogeneous structure and specialisation of Austrian businesses and research facilities, who take up leading European and sometimes even global positions in their respective technology and business areas, our joint forces are the basis for sustainable success when it comes to the Austrian space strategy and all related decisions on international cooperation.

Our association promotes an exchange of experiences between the members and public relations to let the broad public know about the significance of space technologies for everyday life and their contribution to the Austrian economy.”

Austrospace’s tasks

“My personal highlight of the last couple of years was the space probe BepiColombo, which launched in October 2018 from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou to begin its seven-year long journey to Mercury,” says Max Kowatsch, President of Austrospace and CEO of RUAG Space. “Austrian businesses have made significant contributions to this challenging mission, which is being conducted by the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency JAXA. The electric propulsion systems of the probe are controlled by mechanisms and electronics developed and manufactured by RUAG Space in Vienna. The highly complex thermal insulation, which ensures the probe’s survival under the extreme temperatures around Mercury near the sun, comes from RUAG Space’s factory in Berndorf. Overall, RUAG Space participated in the development and construction of BepiColombo with orders to the tune of 35 million euros. The Space Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Graz contributed significantly to the mission on the scientific side.

RUAG Space extended its leading position as a provider of navigation receivers for high precision positioning of satellites. All first-generation satellites of the Earth observation system Copernicus, developed by ESA and operated by the EU, have such devices from Vienna onboard. The company also expects interesting orders for the second generation, which will be built in the next few years. In addition to all European systems manufacturers, RUAG Space

Austrian business and research facilities at Austrospace

c Aerospace and Advanced Composites c Atos IT Solutions and Services c TTTech Computertechnik AG c Enpulsion c EODC Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources

Monitoring GmbH c EOX IT Services GmbH c University of Applied Science Wiener Neustadt c GeoVille Information Systems and Data Processing GmbH c Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH Digital

Institute for Information and Communication Technologies c Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co KG,

Division Aerospace c OHB Digital Solutions GmbH c Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG c Austrian Academy of Sciences c RUAG Space Austria c Seibersdorf Labor GmbH c University of Technology Graz www.austrospace.at

Mechanisms for controlling the electric propulsion system of BepiColombo RUAG Space propulsion positioning mechanism for telecommunications satellites

ProUST univerSAS, the world‘s first universal digital power testing system from Atos Space Austria

also supplies customers in the United States, in South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. The company is also very proud to have been selected to work on the new environmental satellite PACE of the US space agency NASA, which is set to launch between 2022 and 2023.

“Another important business area is positioning mechanisms for electric propulsion systems of large telecommunications satellites. A product for the French-Italian systems manufacturer Thales Alenia Space can be found on board of the high-performance satellite Eutelsat Konnect, which launched in January,” Kowatsch says. ◆

Photo: RUAG Space

Photo: Atos Space

Photo: NASA Photo: ESA