STC – ESTL

Space Tribology Course

ESTL (the European Space Tribology Laboratory) presents this popular dedicated Space Tribology Course (STC) which draws heavily from experimental data generated as Europe’s longest running independent centre of excellence for space tribology.(now in its 53rd year). The course, which is supplemented with latest data at each new presentation, has been running successfully since 1987 and presented on the two days immediately prior to ESMATS for some years.

Agenda

In 2025, the course, which is to be presented in-person provides a comprehensive overview of the many issues relating to friction, lubrication and wear of spacecraft mechanisms, which can be summarised in 5 parts:

Fundamentals of Tribology – in which tribological concepts are introduced and the special considerations for space and vacuum tribology highlighted.
Lubrication of Spacecraft Components – for which topics include:

Selection of Lubricant types
Solid Lubrication – Coatings
Solid Lubrication – Self Lubricating Materials
Fluid Lubricants – Selection and Performance

In these sessions, the application-driven considerations for selection of fluid or dry (solid) lubricants for tribo-components and surfaces are provided. This includes the considerations and typical performances of dry (solid) and fluid lubricants, respectively. Some practical issues concerning application, handling and preloading of ball bearings and testing of mechanisms where tribological performance is critical are also presented.

Tribo-component Selection, Design and Performance – in which an overview of the different types, characteristics and performances of tribo-components (ball bearings, gears, plain and ball/rollerscrews, etc.) and main categories of materials and surface treatments used in spacecraft applications is provided. This includes a detailed presentation of considerations for design, selection and load capacity verification of ball bearings for space applications.

Handling and Testing Tribo-components – covering handling and preloading bearings and testing tribo-components and mechanisms.

In 2025 this will also include a dedicated guest lecture on the topic of contact adhesion and its prevention which will be presented by Dr Andreas Merstallinger of AAC – which hosts an ESA database of static adhesion test data.

ESR Technology (ESTL) Case Histories and Lessons Learned – presenting a selection of the (sometimes painful!) lessons learned on various programmes.
The course is presented by experienced staff from ESR Technology (ESTL) with over 50+ combined years of space tribological experience and will be valuable both for younger engineers entering the industry and for the more experienced who may wish to refresh or challenge their tribological understanding.

Registration Restrictions

Please note that course participation is limited to delegates from entities registered in the ESA Member and Cooperating States (including Canada) plus USA (only) and some restrictions on document access apply as follows:
All attendees will receive access to a personal electronic copy of the presentation slides.

In addition, delegates from entities registered in the ESA Member and Co-operating states (ONLY) plus up to 5 identified colleagues within the same company will be given electronic (web based) access to the latest issue of our ‘Space Tribology Handbook’, our ‘Guidelines for Space Mechanism Ball Bearing Design, Assembly and Preloading’, and can elect to register for access to many other ESTL technical reports.

Subject to completion of a qualifying declaration, delegates from entities registered in the USA (and up to 5 identified colleagues within the same company who shall also complete the declaration) may receive access to the latest issue of our “Space Tribology Handbook” (ONLY).

Delegate Feedback

“I was very pleased with the course … did a wonderful job, I have no recommendations
[for improvement].”

“…great combination of theory, practical applications and real world examples.”

“… all I hoped for and more.”

“….it was excellent.”

Fees

As with previous years the course will be held on the 2 days prior to the ESMATS Symposium so that delegates can combine attendance of this course with attendance at the ESMATS Symposium itself.  

The registration fee includes document access as identified above plus refreshment breaks and lunch each day.

Delegates can register for the STC presented by ESTL courtesy of EPFL’s  registration system on this site. This course is not part of the ESMATS 2025 Symposium and an additional fee of CHF1,100 (inclusive of 8.1% VAT) is payable for delegates attending this course.

ESTL Space Tribology Course CHF1,100 (inclusive of 8.1% VAT) Registration link