
With 33 instrument units to accommodate on-board, the allowable volume of each instrument unit must be tightly controlled.

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft main body is approximately 2 m3 (with stowed appendages). Lessons learnt in these points have been shared between ESA and Alter Technology, and they will surely be used on future Space Programs.Īs with all spacecraft, mass and volume are at a premium due to launch vehicle constraints however, the Solar Orbiter main spacecraft body is further constrained due to the fact that a sizable portion of the budget is taken up by the heat-shield, along with the fact that the spacecraft must be optimized to fit behind the heat-shield with sufficient margin to cover off-pointing cases, e.g. The use of COTS components usually not recommended on space programs, and only taking into account when specific performance needs cannot be fulfilled neither with qualified components nor with manufacturer support. Besides usual evaluations which include TID, DD, DPA, Life Tests, Temperature Cycles, Humidity Life, etc, vibration and shock evaluations could be performed in case of not usual packaged, as well as Outgassing then plastic was used on components.
#Solar orbiter full#
Fully commercial components such as Diodes, Transistors, Capacitors or Microcircuits, as well as some Optoelectronic components have been submitted to full evaluation tests, following ECSS-Q-ST-60-13. The management of the requirements of each instruments, promoting standardization and taking into account the Quality requirements of the program needed a thorough and detailed control, communicating with both Users and ESA constantly, as well as informing on Alter Technology progress through our WEB PROJECT OFFICE.Įvaluation of COTS components. Solar Orbiter had 70 different users working for the 9 different instruments, in countries all over Europe.

Two of the most important challenges were: Solar Orbiter, planned to be launched on October 2018, has been one of the most challenging programs in which ALTER TECHNOLOGY has participated, as the CPPA contractor.

DRONES (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems).CERTIFICATION OF INTRUSION AND ALARMS PRODUCT.COUNTERFEIT DETECTION, AUTHENTICITY TESTS.COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf | EEE Parts.Engineering & testing of Hi Rel Components.
