Did you know that our facilities hold 65 Kg of scientific instrumentation that have returned safely from space?
Indeed, from September 9 to 20, 1994, EDMO, the Experiment for the Deposition of Materials in Orbit, flew into space aboard a Get Away Special container in the cargo bay of the Discovery spacecraft on flight STS-64. The experiment aimed at the deposition of thin films of various materials in the space vacuum and under microgravity conditions on board the Space Shuttle. 

EDMO was an automatic installation weighting 65Kg and with the shape of a cylinder (50 cm in diameter by 70 in height) integrating two ceramic evaporation cells and a molybdenum filament as well as its own integrated battery and control computer system. Inside, the evaporation of aluminium, gold and silicon was produced during 9 hours at 1400ºC so that high purity micro sheets were formed by condensation in the absence of oxygen and microgravity conditions.

After the successful mission execution, and subsequent Space Shuttle landing, EDMO was uninstalled from its Shuttle container and send back to CSIC and Airbus Crisa for analysis. The results of the experiment were optimal, executing the experiment as planned and obtaining a good quality of the samples.

Did you know that a small piece of Airbus Crisa hardware is resting on Titan’s surface, Saturn’s biggest moon?

During the time period between 1993 and 1994 Airbus Crisa designed and manufactured all the thermo-structural models (around forty of them) of the avionics of Huygens probe for its structural testing. 

In collaboration with the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, we also worked on the Permittivity and Wave Analyser (PWA) sensor, whose electronics formed part of the data processing unit of the Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI).

The joint development for the PWA sensor combined the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia’s knowledge in scientific instruments and the experience of Airbus Crisa in the manufacturing of on board equipment for satellites and planetary probes.

Therefore, we can proudly say that a little piece of ours is at an average distance of 1.4 billion km from Earth!

Did you know that the Rosetta spacecraft used Airbus Crisa electronics to guide itself on its ten-year journey to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko?

Rosetta was the first mission to orbit a comet nucleus and land a probe on its surface. It is the first spacecraft to have flown alongside an icy comet as it headed into the Solar System, observing how it is transformed by the heat of the Sun. 

For this mission, Airbus Crisa supplied the computers and electronic units for the Star Tracker Electronic Unit (STR EU) and the Navigation Camera Electronic Unit (NAVCAM EU). 

This equipment manages the image processing and compression of the satellite's onboard star tracker, and monitors and controls the guidance cameras. 

Rosetta used this equipment for guidance during its journey through our solar system and in its approach maneuvers to the comet. 

The STR electronics contains a powerful Digital Signal Processor (DSP), which controls and processes the data from Rosetta's Star Tracker. The NAVCAM electronics acquire, polarize and process the data from the optical navigation camera on the outside of the probe. 

The star navigator electronics unit has also flown with great success on the Mars Express and Venus Express missions.

_{Image Credits: ESA/ATG medialab; Comet image: ESA/Rosetta/Navcam}

Did you know that the Solar Orbiter satellite is the most complex scientific laboratory ever sent to the Sun?

The mission was launched on February 10, 2020 to study the Sun, beginning science operations in June 2020. It is still in operation today.
It was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with NASA and built by Airbus.

SolO aims to answer the following questions:

• How and where do the solar wind plasma and magnetic field originate in the corona?
• How do solar transients drive heliospheric variability?
• How do solar flares produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere?
• How does the solar dynamo work and drive the connections between the Sun and the heliosphere?

For this purpose, Airbus Crisa developed the satellite's Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit (PCDU) and the Instrument Control Unit (ICU) of the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD).
The Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit (PCDU) is responsible for power conditioning of the solar panels, battery charge and discharge management, regulating the main power Bus, distributing power to satellite users and deployment devices, telemetry and telecommand interface with the on-board computer and ground operations.

The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) is an instrument to characterize the energetic particles that the spacecraft encounters on its path; allowing to observe their composition and variation over time.

For the EPD we have delivered the Instrument Control Unit (ICU) that allows the control and monitoring of the sensors and the collection and processing of the data. EPD is one of the Solar Orbiter instruments that is producing more scientific publications, mainly in prestigious journals such as Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Airbus Crisa’s participation in demanding missions to the Sun and Moon, to the planets and out into deep space are helping answer such fundamental questions as how were the Earth and other planets formed?Are there other forms of life in the solar system? What happened just after the Big Bang?

The space probes that are unraveling these mysteries rely on mission-critical equipment and systems from Airbus Crisa for power management, monitoring, flight control and data processing

_{Image credits: NASA/JPL}

Earth-orbiting satellites are the silent sentinels that play an important role in everyone’s daily lives – with such duties as observing Earth’s increasingly fragile environment and predicting the weather, ensuring global telecommunications and broadcasting entertainment programming to fixed and mobile users.

As these satellites continue to evolve, Airbus Crisa is positioned to develop and produce the power systems that respond their mission needs in the most demanding operational needs.

Knowledge and creativity are at the heart of Airbus Crisa’s designs for space systems and equipment.

Co-engineering and co-development are our key drivers for success. Powerful design engineering defines the architecture of our products, ensuring that their functionality meets all requirements for cost, size, weight and operation.

The design and development of these products call for deep knowledge and expertise, along with integrated and interoperable tools for design, analysis and simulation that utilise input from internal databases which benefit from our years of experience and know-how.

To succeed in today’s highly competitive market, Airbus Crisa pursues defined product policies that are supported by research and development investments in key technologies. 

Verification engineering is at the core of Airbus Crisa’s strategy to validate the ability of its products to fulfilling all of their requirements. An important effort is devoted to ensuring our products’ performances in the space environment’s harsh conditions, while also meeting all operational constraints. 

Airbus Crisa develops complex test equipment that simulates the system’s interfaces with our products and their functions.  A major focus is on the creation of programming tools in support of test automation.

Our experienced verification engineers deploy the full range of testing for each product, applying their knowledge in disciplines such as electrical and mechanical design. They work in multidisciplinary engineering teams to ensure close collaboration across the areas of design, development and tests.

Airbus Crisa’s comprehensive industrial approach enables us to meet the space industry’s challenges while ensuring top-quality standards – thereby positioning us as a reference in the sector.

This is achieved through the close working relationship between design and production engineers, and continues throughout the entire product lifecycle.

Airbus Crisa constantly evolves its methodology for manufacturing and testing, reinforcing the industrial strategy of optimising added-value tasks, while addressing such subjects as end-to-end tool connectivity, lean approach in shop-floor design, and purchasing strategy that is adapted to manufacturing deadlines.

Avionics

Every heavy-lift Ariane 6 is equipped with eight units supplied by Airbus Crisa, including the core of the launcher’s electrical system. The company has boosted the performance of these units while also using commercial components, applying lead-free soldering and achieving compliance with the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive.

The Ariane 6’s modular and compact Centralized Multi-Functional Unit contains the on-board computer, while also handling power and communications management, as well as the control of electrovalves.

The Pyrotechnical Firing Unit is fully devoted to the firing of pyrotechnic devices for ignition and separation, in applications that electrically-triggered as well as optically-triggered with laser-initiated devices.

^{Image: PFU - Ariane 6}

Temperature regulation

Airbus Crisa’s solutions for temperature control have been used on many types of spacecraft – from large telecommunications satellites to the iconic Orion space explorer that will transport astronauts to the Moon and beyond.

Key features of these units include the accurate measurement of temperature at many points within the spacecraft and the commanding of active and passive control systems. According to the needs of each system, Airbus Crisa applies different levels of intelligence – from pure slave to fully autonomous and programmable operation.

^{Image: Thermal Control Unit - Orion European Service Module}

Mechanisms

Control Momentum Gyroscope Electronics (CMG-E) and Scan Drive Electronics (SDE) are two of the products designed and developed by Airbus Crisa.

CMG-E is the unit in charge of driving the wheel and gimbal motors of Control Momentum Gyro (CMG) mechanisms for agile satellite attitude control.

Airbus Crisa also has developed electronic equipment that control and manage scanner and refocusing mechanism stepper motors.

^{Image: Scanner Drive Electronics - Sentinel 4 UVN instrument}