The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

Formed in 1973, when a Ministerial Conference in the Hague approved a highly ambitious space programme to carry the European space effort into the new millennium.

Since the last ESMATS, Ariane 5 successfully completed its 100th launch and has an order book stretching into 2022. BepiColombo, Metop-C, EDRS_C, CHEOPS and Solar Orbitor have all been successfully launched. XMM-Newton has successfully completed 20 years in orbit and continues to provide ground breaking science; its sister spacecraft INTEGRAL, launched in October 2002 is also still operational and SOHO launched in December 1995 has completed  25 years of successful sun observation and comet spotting. The Cluster II satellites launched in the summer of 2000 are also still operational after 20 years in orbit.

ESA member states

ESA has 22 Member States; Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Further to the 22 Member States, Canada and Slovenia, based on their agreements with ESA, also qualify to fully participate in the programmes of the ESA Education Office. Seven other EU states have Cooperation Agreements with ESA: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia.
By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

ESA develops the launchers, spacecraft and ground facilities needed to keep Europe at the forefront of global space activities.

Today, it launches satellites for Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications and astronomy, sends probes to the far reaches of the Solar System and cooperates in the human exploration of space.

ESA’s purpose shall be to provide for, and to promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation among European States in space research and technology and their space applications, with a view to their being used for scientific purposes and for operational space applications systems:

• by elaborating and implementing a long-term European space policy, by recommending space objectives to the Member States, and by concerting the policies of the Member States with respect to other national and international organisations and institutions;
• by elaborating and implementing activities and programmes in the space field;
• by coordinating the European space programme and national programmes, and by integrating the latter progressively and as completely as possible into the European space programme, in particular as regards the development of applications satellites;
• by elaborating and implementing the industrial policy appropriate to its programme and by recommending a coherent industrial policy to the Member States.

Contact details:

Website: www.esa.int

Astronika is a space engineering company focused on providing compact, lightweight, and energy-efficient solutions to customers. We were founded in 2013 and quickly found our place in the European space sector as a leading Polish private space company.

By developing unique instruments in ambitious projects, Astronika’s team has earned the opinion of experts in particularly demanding tasks. Today, the company hires over 40 highly experienced engineers and professionals, constantly looking for out-of-the-box solutions to challenges. To ensure the service of the entire life cycle of the project, our company is continuously expanding the manufacturing, laboratory, and test infrastructure while maintaining an extensive network of subcontractors that ensure the highest quality standards. The company’s services include the complete process of product development, from design, manufacturing, integration, up to testing and delivery of space mechanisms to our customers.

Astronika’s products and services include:

• penetrators and ground sampling devices equipped with unique actuators.
• hold down & release mechanisms distinguished by non-explosive operations, low levels of generated vibrations, the potential for reusability, high reliability, as well as light and compact construction;
• mechanisms based on the tubular booms technology, most notably: antenna systems, booms for instruments, and ultra-light planetary manipulators;
• consulting services in the fields of space mechanisms design and testing, tribology, product quality engineering, and designing custom-made mechanisms (including R&D).

Since our beginning, Astronika has received over 25 projects from the European Space Agency, and other customers. The company’s instruments are taking part in the most important exploration missions, both European and international, most notably:

• ESA JUICE – as a member of the RPWI consortium, Astronika designed, produced, tested, and delivered two instruments: LP-PWI Langmuir Probe booms, and RWI antenna system. Both devices were successfully integrated with JUICE spacecraft and will contribute to the exploration of Jupiter’s icy moons.
• NASA InSight – Astronika was responsible for the development of the Hammering Mechanism for DLR’s HP3 penetrator, one of the three scientific instruments of the InSight mission. The company’s mechanism constituted a mechanical heart of the penetrator, which currently is the first self-propelled instrument to bury itself in the deepest man-made borehole beyond Earth.
• ESA HERA ­– in the Juventas CubeSat, Astronika is responsible for the design, manufacturing, testing, and delivery of four actuated deployable antennas, which together with radar electronics box and interface harnessing, are parts of the Juventas Radar (JuRa). JuRa will investigate the nearest surrounding and composition of the Didymos and Dimorphos asteroids.
• Roscosmos / ESA Luna-27 – our company developed a hammering action subsystem (discontinued) as well as hold-down and release mechanisms for the PROSPECT drill. Thanks to that project, we will contribute to an exciting mission investigating lunar volatiles and the near subsurface.
• ESA RadCube – for this demonstrational CubeSat mission, Astronika developed a boom system – precise, one-shot manipulator – able to position its carried magnetometer away from the spacecraft’s structure. RadMag is the primary payload of the mission. This demo mission will show the capabilities of CubeSats in space weather investigations on Low Earth Orbit.

Astronika is also engaged in a variety of other R&D projects, among them: development of the Compactor – a landing-launch pad construction robot for the Moon, with capability of seismic prospecting; Astro-Modules – off-the-shelf building blocks for quick and efficient design and production of small and medium satellites, DEAR – deployment system for flexible solar arrays, and Galago – a highland terrain hopper, designed for lunar scouting and scalable to lower gravity environments.

Astronika is proud to be a part of the ESMATS 2021 conference industry among the most innovative European and international companies and organizations.

Find us at:

www.astronika.pl

Astronika on Facebook

Astronika on LinkedIn

Founded almost 50 years ago and operated by ESR Technology on behalf of ESA, ESTL is ESA’s external laboratory providing unique expertise in space tribology. ESTL’s remit is to support European industry in the development of reliable tribological solutions for space mechanisms (both for ESA and fully commercial missions), as well as to develop tribological understanding, lubricant technology and best practice for the benefit of the European space industry. We have supported many hundreds of missions, including Science, Earth Observation, Telecom and Commercial Constellations by provision of expertise, technology, lubricants or mechanism development support of many kinds.

R&D & Consultancy: ESTL carries out a number of annually-defined tribological R&D activities on behalf of ESA, sharing the results to support industry. We also provide expert consultancy (in some cases for free) to apply both established and new knowledge recently gained to support our clients to develop their next generation space mechanism products.

Lubrication: As a leading supplier of dry PVD lubricants, ESTL offers a number of long-established and successful products which have been qualified by our clients in a diverse range of the most demanding space applications. We back up our lubricant products with first class product knowledge and we are very happy to support lubricant selection for new applications as well as to support post-delivery with information on correct handling and storage.

We can supply both solid- and fluid-lubricated bearings, using established processes and we continue to evolve our lubrication business to offer more capable, cost effective and environmentally resilient products.

Test: From amongst more than 20 thermal vacuum chambers, we offer access to a number of specialised tribological test facilities. These include specialised tribometers (PoD, SOT, VMTM), component level test rigs (bearing and gear component testing) and configurable thermal vacuum chambers which can support specific mechanism tests on a commercial basis (e.g. for TV qualification of new actuators or other hardware). Examples include a dedicated ultra-clean vacuum facility, and chambers capable of exposing hardware to cryogenic or extreme high temperatures.

Access To Data: Our website “Members Area” hosts hundreds of technical reports, papers, presentations and other data sources developed by us over many years – and is accessed by companies both large and small on equal terms throughout the ESA Member and Cooperating States. On behalf of ESA we have developed a Space Tribology Handbook and have led both the development of a Ball Bearing Handling and Preloading guideline and the recent substantial updates to our bearing analysis code CABARET.

Our unique Space Tribology Course (exclusively on-line this year) is well recognised as valuable by new and more experienced engineers alike.

Commercial Programmes: Typical commercial activities include TV test at component-, unit-, mechanism sub-assembly- or instrument-level or provision of solid or fluid lubricated bearings. Beyond ESTL, ESR Technology’s parallel in-house mechanism team can support production of bearing sub-assemblies, actuators, development of bespoke mechanism solutions and larger technology development/instrument development programmes.

ESMATS: ESTL his proud to have presented or contributed to around 100 ESMATS papers, since the inception of ESMATS, the leading forum for exchanging information on spacecraft mechanism development in Europe. As such, we are very happy to be supporting ESMATS 2021 and wish all participants a useful, informative and enjoyable on-line conference experience.

Website: www.esrtechnology.com

ESTL is part of ESR Technology Ltd

Address:

ESR Technology Ltd
202 Cavendish Place
Birchwood Park
Warrington
Cheshire
WA3 6WU
UK

Telephone: +44 (0)1925 843451

The systems specialist OHB System AG is one of the leading independent forces in European space. We have been making a name for ourselves on the market with our creative and business approach for a good 35 years particularly in our core business comprising low-orbiting and geostationary satellites. We are developing and executing some of the key projects of our times such as the Galileo navigation satellites, the SARah reconnaissance system, the MTG meteorological satellites, the EnMAP environment satellite, CHIME Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission, the TET-1 technology testing vehicle and the Hispasat H36W-1, ELECTRA and EDRS-C telecommunications satellites.

In human space flight, we are working intensively on humanity’s most remote outpost, the International Space Station ISS. We were materially involved in assembling and equipping the Columbus research laboratory fitted to the ISS and the ATV space freighter as well as numerous experiment systems used on board the ISS.

Ideas and systems for studying our solar system form the core of our exploration activities. OHB System is working intensively on ESA’s two-part flagship mission ExoMars as well as on further studies for exploring and charting the moon, Mars, Jupiter and other celestial bodies.

Broadband wireless transmission of image data forms a core technology for security and reconnaissance. Our Process Control Systems segment is responsible for the successful transfer of space technology for use in industrial applications.

OHB System traditionally combines the technologies of leading national and international companies to develop new solutions. With these partnerships and the effective participation in syndicates, we have been a sought-after and reliable partner for the European Space Agency ESA, the German Aerospace Center DLR, the German Federal Ministry of Defense as well as for customers in the private and public sector for several decades.

OHB System AG
Universitätsallee 27-29
28359 Bremen
Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 421-2020-8
Fax: +49 (0) 421-2020-700
Email: info@ohb.de

OHB System AG
Manfred-Fuchs-Straße 1
82234 Weßling – Oberpfaffenhofen
Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 8153 4002-0
Fax: +49 (0) 8153 4002-940
Email: info.oberpfaffenhofen@ohb.de
Website: www.ohb-system.de

SENER is an international leader in the space industry, with more than 275 equipments and units including electromechanical devices and thousands of antennas successfully supplied to satellites and space vehicles for NASA, ESA, JAXA and Roscosmos. Institutes and companies such as CNES, Airbus Defence & Space, Thales Space, OHB, RUAG, Maxar, Lockheed, SELEX and CSIC are also among its clients.

In Space and Astronomy, SENER provides engineering and production services in five spheres of activity, where it has the capacity to cover complete systems as a principal contractor:

• Electromechanical components and systems (deployment, precision and control electronics).
• Steerable Antennas.
• Guidance, navigation and control, and attitude and orbit control systems (GNC/AOCS).
• Microgravity and life support systems.

SENER’s work in Astronomy encompasses:

• Optical systems: including structural elements and mechanisms for optical and focal plane systems.
• Electromechanical components and systems.
• Instrumentation systems: for space missions and scientific facilities, including Synchrotron radiation facilities. In addition, SENER offers engineering support for experimental beamline users who need to develop custom instruments for their stations. The company’s expertise has been demonstrated through projects with benchmark European facilities, such as the European Synchrotron Research Facility (ESRF) and other Particle Physics research groups.
• Telescope mirror positioning systems: precision positioning and pointing systems for optical components, such as mirrors, lenses, filters, etc. The company specializes in developing custom high-performance activation and positioning systems for all types of mirrors, including units of large dimensions and weight (positioned in five degrees of freedom, with hexapods with micron-level precision and tip-tilt mechanisms for field correction and infra-red observation).

SENER has been active in ground-based astronomy and major scientific facilities since 2000, and boasts an extensive portfolio of projects that guarantee the quality of its solutions for clients such as the Southern European Observatory (ESO).In the area of positioning systems, SENER’s services include:

• Opto-mechanical and electronic design.
• Control software.
• Analysis and simulation.
• Manufacturing.
• Sub-contracting of the mirrors.
• Assembly and integration.

Equipment validation and testing with optical instrumentation in seismically isolated facilities

Contact details for mechanical products:

Eduardo Urgoiti
T: +34 944 817 604
M: +34 607 204 475
Avda. de Zugazarte 56
ENTRANCE Cervantes, 8
48930 Getxo (Bizkaia) – España
Website: www.aerospace.sener
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/sener