Airbus Defence and Space finishes final preparations for launch of LISA Pathfinder

European Space Agency’s gravitational wave detection demonstrator passes space tests


LISA Pathfinder, ESA’s gravitational-wave detection technology demonstrator, is ready to be shipped to Kourou in French Guiana in preparation for its launch in November. Airbus Defence and Space, the world’s second largest space company, has completed a series of intensive tests on LISA Pathfinder’s propulsion and science modules at IABG, near Munich, to prove its space worthiness. The 1.9-tonne spacecraft, primed by Airbus Defence and Space will be launched on a European Vega rocket.

“LISA Pathfinder is a remarkable project to test the ultra-high precision technologies that will be needed to detect gravitational waves in space. Albert Einstein predicted that the waves exist – but so far none have been found. LISA Pathfinder will take us one huge leap nearer to finding them,” said Michael Menking, Head of Earth Observation, Navigation & Science programmes at Airbus Defence and Space.

LISA Pathfinder carries the LISA Technology Package (LTP), which weighs around 150 kilograms. It consists of a laser interferometer measuring changes in the distance between two precision-engineered gold/platinum test masses, each weighing 1.96 kilograms. Once in orbit around the first Earth Sun Lagrange point, 1.5 million km from Earth, the two test masses will be released from a locking mechanism and held in position with a weak electrostatic field that can be very precisely controlled. Once in science mode, the electrostatic actuation of the primary test mass is switched off. The spacecraft is then controlled, via the drag-free and attitude control system, to follow the test mass. The laser interferometer and electrostatic sensors will track the motion of the test masses inside the spacecraft, ensuring they remain undisturbed. The interferometer can measure the relative position and orientation of the masses – which are around 40 centimetres from each other – to an accuracy of less than one millionth of the width of a human hair, which is less than 0.01 nanometre.

The LISA technologies also include two types of tiny thrusters so small that a thousand would be needed to lift a sheet of paper on Earth. The mission will carry out in-orbit testing of these micro-propulsion systems, as well as an additional drag-free control system from NASA and several innovative technologies associated with the payload.

ESA has selected the gravitational universe science theme for its third Large Class L3 mission, for which a LISA-like mission is a leading candidate. Gravitational radiation will allow astronomers to study our universe in a new way and future telescope systems will be able to observe exotic sources, such as colliding super-massive black holes, as never before.

LISA Pathfinder is paving the way for a future large space observatory that ultimately will directly observe and precisely measure gravitational waves. These minute distortions in space-time require very sensitive and highly precise measuring technology, the performance of which can only be tested in a space environment.

Airbus Defence and Space in the UK was chosen by the European Space Agency (ESA) to build the LISA Pathfinder and is responsible for delivering the integrated turnkey satellite. Airbus Defence and Space in Germany has been commissioned by ESA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, as the systems leader for the LTP, which was developed with contributions from European research institutes and companies.

Airbus Defence and Space
Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus Group formed by combining the business activities of Cassidian, Astrium and Airbus Military. The new division is Europe’s number one defence and space enterprise, the second largest space business worldwide and one of the 10 largest global defence enterprises. It employs more than 38,000 employees generating revenue of approximately €13 billion per year.


Contacts:
Astrid Emerit
+ 33 1 39 06 89 43
astrid.emerit@airbus.com

Jeremy Close
+ 44 14 38 77 38 72
jeremy.close@airbus.com

Gregory Gavroy
+ 33 1 39 06 89 42
gregory.gavroy@airbus.com

Ralph Heinrich
+ 49 89 607 33971
ralph.heinrich@airbus.com

Mathias Pikelj
+ 49 75 45 89 123
mathias.pikelj@airbus.com

Francisco Lechón
+ 34 91 586 37 41
francisco.lechon@airbus.com

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Free Provision of TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X Data for Government Studies and Professional Training in Canada

Airbus Defence and Space has signed an agreement with the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) providing Canadian governmental and institutional data users free access to TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X satellite imagery for pre-operational use.

A delegation from the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada led by the Honourable Robert R. McLeod, Premier of NWT, along with senior officials from the Government of Canada recently visited Airbus Defence and Space in Ottobrunn, Germany. On this occasion, the long-lasting relation between Airbus Defence and Space and the Government of Canada was reinforced by the signature of this agreement.

The main goal of the agreement is to support current efforts of Canadian agencies working on the development of operational monitoring concepts that exploit the benefits of using Canada’s C-Band radar mission together with the German X-Band satellites for maritime surveillance, disaster management and environmental monitoring. Additionally the free data provision will support study purposes and capacity building through professional training and education.

The TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X radar satellite missions were established in 2007 and 2010 respectively as a Public-Private Partnership between the German Space Agency (DLR) and the Geo-Intelligence Programme Line of Airbus Defence and Space. Since the launch, the missions benefited from Canada’s Inuvik Satellite Station Facility (ISSF), which thanks to its location above the Arctic Circle provides access to most of the satellite’s orbits in a timely manner. The new Mackenzie-Valley-Fibre-Link currently under development for Inuvik will be providing further shortened access time to data as well as Near-Real-Time monitoring for large parts of Northern Canada in support of maritime surveillance and natural disaster monitoring.

Contact:
Fabienne GRAZZINI + 33 5 62 19 41 19

Email Contact

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TerraSAR-X satellite feeding of Copernicus Data Warehouse extended until 2020

Airbus Defence and Space, owner of the commercial distribution rights for TerraSAR-X data, and ESA have signed a contract securing the continued supply of TerraSAR-X data for the Copernicus Data Warehouse. The agreement is valid until the end of 2020, thus continuing the successful cooperation between Airbus Defence and Space and ESA for the provision of TerraSAR-X data to public institutions across Europe in place since 2008.

TerraSAR-X has been a key data source particularly for activities addressing emergency and security related issues, reliable monitoring needs, and land cover change, both in Europe and beyond. Its unique reliability and high accuracy make it an ideal data source within ESA's multi-mission approach.

The Copernicus programme is set to make a step change by providing reliable, timely and accurate services to manage the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and help respond to crises. The success of this initiative relies on the provision of robust data, predominately from a fleet of Earth observation satellites called Sentinel and supplemented by data from Member States’ satellites (e.g. TerraSAR-X, Pléiades and SPOT). The Copernicus Data Warehouse provides comprehensive and coordinated access for all users to all Copernicus space data both from the Sentinel missions as well as the contributing missions through a single harmonised interface.

The agreement includes the provision of archived and newly acquired TerraSAR-X data for the Copernicus core datasets in the area of maritime monitoring, as well as additional datasets for further maritime applications particularly sea ice monitoring. The contract also includes the maintenance for the Copernicus-specific interfaces for the ordering, delivery and reporting process that have been established during the previous phases.
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Ariane 5 launch: double success for Airbus Defence and Space

Ariane 5 has been successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana, for the 66th time in a row, placing in orbit the fourth Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-4) satellite, over 50% of which was built by Airbus Defence and Space, the world’s second largest space company. The company’s most outstanding contribution to MSG-4 is the SEVIRI instrument, considered as the most capable weather instrument in geostationary orbit. Thales Alenia Space is prime contractor for all the Meteosat satellites since the start.

The SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager) instrument is an imaging radiometer that was designed and developed by Airbus Defence and Space. The instrument observes weather phenomena in the visible and infrared spectra across a third of the Earth’s surface. This is the fourth SEVIRI instrument built for MSG and the 11th radiometer designed and developed by Airbus Defence and Space for the Meteosat constellation, the first instruments of which operated in space for up to 19 years. Since the first model began operating in orbit in 2004, SEVIRI has become a global benchmark in the design of the next generation of radiometers. It is the most reliable weather instrument currently in geostationary orbit.

MSG-4 will allow EUMETSAT, the European organisation for the exploitation of meteorological satellites, to guarantee continuity of the MSG service for more than 10 years.

The satellite is the last of the Meteosat Second Generation satellites resulting from the successful cooperation between EUMETSAT and the European Space Agency (ESA).

The main application of the Meteosat service from geostationary orbit is very short-range forecasting of high impact weather. The service also delivers unique inputs to weather prediction models, complementing the primary inputs delivered by the polar-orbiting MetOp satellites, which are also built by Airbus Defence and Space.

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Airbus Defence and Space signs first contract with Eutelsat and ESA

Airbus Defence and Space has signed the first contract for the fully reconfigurable Quantum satellite with Eutelsat and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Quantum satellite will be operated and commercialised by Eutelsat and will be able to adapt to new demands in coverage, bandwidth, power, frequency configurability and even change its orbital position.

Quantum will be the first generation of universal satellites able to serve any region of the world and adjust to new business without the user needing to procure and launch an entirely new satellite. Featuring phased array antennas and flexible connectivity, which is fully reconfigurable in orbit, Quantum will be able to adjust its coverage and capacity to suit customers’ needs as and when they change.

The new design is a first in the commercial satellite industry. It features software defined ‘receive’ and ‘transmit’ coverages in Ku-band, including on-board jamming detection and mitigation. It allows customers to maintain access to premium capacity throughout the 15 year lifetime of the satellite by allowing footprint shaping and steering, frequency adjustment and bandwidth reassignment. This ability to track or establish new markets, mirror or complement another satellite anywhere in geostationary orbit will transform fleet management and result in a significantly more efficient use of resources.

Quantum builds on the payload technology developed by Airbus Defence and Space in the UK under the ESA Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems programme (ARTES 33.3) and supported by the UK Space Agency.

The Eutelsat Quantum satellite will be primed and manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space in the UK and use a new small geo satellite platform called GMPT from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (UK). Both developments are supported by the UK Space Agency.

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Airbus Defence and Space signs first contract with Eutelsat and ESA

Airbus Defence and Space has signed the first contract for the fully reconfigurable Quantum satellite with Eutelsat and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Quantum satellite will be operated and commercialised by Eutelsat and will be able to adapt to new demands in coverage, bandwidth, power, frequency configurability and even change its orbital position.

Quantum will be the first generation of universal satellites able to serve any region of the world and adjust to new business without the user needing to procure and launch an entirely new satellite. Featuring phased array antennas and flexible connectivity, which is fully reconfigurable in orbit, Quantum will be able to adjust its coverage and capacity to suit customers’ needs as and when they change.

The new design is a first in the commercial satellite industry. It features software defined ‘receive’ and ‘transmit’ coverages in Ku-band, including on-board jamming detection and mitigation. It allows customers to maintain access to premium capacity throughout the 15 year lifetime of the satellite by allowing footprint shaping and steering, frequency adjustment and bandwidth reassignment. This ability to track or establish new markets, mirror or complement another satellite anywhere in geostationary orbit will transform fleet management and result in a significantly more efficient use of resources.

Quantum builds on the payload technology developed by Airbus Defence and Space in the UK under the ESA Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems programme (ARTES 33.3) and supported by the UK Space Agency.

The Eutelsat Quantum satellite will be primed and manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space in the UK and use a new small geo satellite platform called GMPT from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (UK). Both developments are supported by the UK Space Agency.

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