Press release
Airbus’ Friedrichshafen site has opened Europe’s most
state-of-the-art satellite integration and space technology centre,
known as the Integrated Technology Centre (ITC). The ITC, which triples
the area of clean room space to 4,200 m
2, is dedicated to
building satellites, probes, space instruments and experimental
technologies. The centre took only two years to build at a total cost of
approximately €45 million.
“Airbus’s significant investment in this building also represents an
investment in the future – both for the Airbus site at Lake Constance
and for Baden-Wuerttemberg as an aerospace location. When it comes to
space technology, we are now a step ahead of the rest of Germany – in
terms of science and research, development and technology, and
enthusiasm for the aerospace industry,” said Baden-Wuerttemberg’s
Minister-President, Winfried Kretschmann. “With this technology centre,
Airbus has shown it has the courage to take the leap into a new age of
even better satellites, and this includes those intended for scientific
purposes. Satellites can, for instance, document changes in sea levels
and detect even small sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Satellites of
this nature are helping to expand the basic scientific knowledge needed
to combat climate change.”
“Space flight has undergone huge positive development over the past
few years. In addition to scientific missions to explore our solar
system and investigate fundamental physical laws, we as a space company
are meeting a swiftly increasing demand for high-performance,
ultra-reliable Earth observation, meteorological and navigation
satellites,” said Nicolas Chamussy, Head of Airbus Space Systems.
“Thanks to the new satellite hub, production at Airbus’s Friedrichshafen
site is optimally positioned in terms of both quality and quantity
compared with our competitors.”
With dimensions of 70 x 60 metres and a ceiling height of up to
18.50 metres, the building was designed to expand the current satellite
integration hall. The new ‘dual’ complex enables projects to be executed
more efficiently and economically and, thanks to cutting-edge
technology and its new size, also offers new possibilities for
developing future space projects, such as large space telescopes.
The centrepiece of the ITC is its large clean room. The final
integration of the satellites takes place under clean room conditions of
various ‘cleanliness classes’ (from ISO 8 to ISO 5) in facilities
totalling approximately 2,100 m
2, of which 400 m
2 are dedicated to ISO 5. Extensive air conditioning and filter systems circulate an air volume of 900,000 m
3
up to 60 times an hour, which not only ensures the required levels of
cleanliness but also a consistently elevated air pressure, in addition
to controlling humidity and temperature.
Four seismic blocks, each weighing 150 tonnes, ‘decouple’ special
integration tables from the building and ensure a completely
vibration-free environment for the installation of optical instruments. A
computer-controlled fan and filter matrix on the south side of the
clean room generates air-flow profiles that can be adjusted to the
occupancy of the room. This concept allows different clean room classes
to be created in a single hall with no disruptive partitions or
curtains.
In the adjacent check-out rooms, technicians can conduct a broad
array of electrical function tests without having to enter the clean
room area. All computer systems are housed in their own air-conditioned,
noise-insulated racks.
The two wings of the ITC provide a further 1,100 m
2 of
integration and laboratory space for component manufacturing and
technical areas. The first floor of the building’s west wing houses a
conference zone and a multifunctional showroom and information space,
whose large panoramic windows provide a unique view of the flight
hardware production process.
Four Sentinel satellites for the European environment and security
programme ‘Copernicus’, the joint European-Japanese EarthCARE Earth
observation satellites and two 12.30-metre-long planar radar antennas
are the first projects to move into the new centre. The integration work
for JUICE, a mission to the icy moons of Jupiter (set to launch in
2022), is also expected to start within the next six months.
