How to transport a satellite
Moving satellites is a delicate business. The slightest scratch or smear and they just don’t work. We talked to Nasmyth and Airbus about what’s involved in getting them from A…
Moving satellites is a delicate business. The slightest scratch or smear and they just don’t work. We talked to Nasmyth and Airbus about what’s involved in getting them from A to B.
Earlier this month, Nasmyth Group signed a contract with Airbus Defense and Space to manufacture the Spacecraft Transport Container for Eurostar Neo – one of two new satellite product lines of the European Space Agency’s NEOSAT programme.
For a deeper dive on how the technology works, watch the video above with Peter Smith, Chairman, Nasmyth.
The Spacecraft Transport Container will house a crucial ‘clean room’, enabling safe transportation of satellites by road, rail, sea or air. It has self-generation and air conditioning with a full external/internal monitoring system in place.
The container will be supplied with two removable transfer trollies which will allow the spacecraft to be rotated 360 degrees and is capable of powered movement from both horizontal and vertical planes.
The NEOSAT programme aims to support Airbus Defence and Space in providing a commercially attractive platform in the mid-range and high-end telecommunication satellite segments. An important goal of the NEOSAT programme is to build a European supply chain which optimises costs and guarantees on-time delivery of satellites. The Spacecraft Transport Container is an important step towards this, Airbus and Nasmyth say.
Nigel Fitch, Commodity Manager, Airbus Defense and Space and Tony Sexton, Director of Systems and Defence, Nasmyth Group, told us more about the deal:
