The European Service Module (ESM) Flight Unit 1, a part of the ORION spacecraft, has successfully been shipped from Germany to the US and is now prepared for its marriage with the NASA crew vehicle to be made ready for the launch at the Kennedy Space Center. Not just being a great success for NASA, ESA and Airbus, but also for the Tesat-Spacecom Parts Agency. As subcontractor of Airbus, TESAT is leading the Coordinated Parts Procurement (CPPA) for the European Service Module, which occupies a relevant part of the new Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV).
The service module is responsible for the propulsion, power, water, oxygen and nitrogen throughout the journey (first to the Moon, in later missions to Mars), including all life-supporting instruments and modules for the crew-area of up to four astronauts.
We are proud about our mandate for procurement and related engineering services to secure the quality and reliability of all HI-REL electrical and electronic components. Even as award-winning agency that has been highly qualified for many years, we still feel the special spirit of this project every day and honored to participate in this exciting project. Not suppressing the fact that bringing relevant experience is also very important:
European Space Module 1 (Flight Unit 1 and Flight Unit 2)
- More than 2800 Line Items successfully procured
- 94% on- time deliveries
- 74 DCL updates successfully implemented
- CPPA prices stability during two Flight Units despite of advanced manufacturer pricing
- 15% improvement of standard Lead time especially for critical Items
- >540 consolidated line items between 5 equipment’s
- 37 performed RVT´s
CPPA Technical access
- 112 PADs fully agreed and signed
- 22 successfully passed RVT´s
- 300 successfully passed DPA´s
In addition to component procurement, we also supported other core topics, such as technical support in the definition of foreseen part types, technical support in the definition of testing requirements, and the so-called obsolescence management. In the latter, crucial part types or models are being stored throughout the whole production process to not endanger the whole manufacturing by no longer available parts.
More information on the mission: www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion
Shipping of ORION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnhYLcO7Rs8
