[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]October 1st 2018 – This week Airborne delivered Jason-CS-A solar-array substrate panels to SpaceTech GmbH. In 2016 SpaceTech GmbH in Immenstaad (STI) selected Airborne to manufacture Jason-CS-A solar-array substrate panels. It’s the first time Airborne works together with STI. The goal of the project is to deliver two flight models to STI. One flight model is built out of four panels (two on each side), before manufacturing a qualification phase has been performed with all partners.
Jason-CS-A panels play part in recording climate change
The Jason-CS-A panels are part of The Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS) mission. This mission on the Sentinel-6 spacecraft is an international partnership between the United States and Europe. Jason-CS/Sentinel-6 includes two identical satellites scheduled to launch in 2020 (satellite A) and 2025 (satellite B). These satellites will carry the record of sea level change – used by agencies, oceanographers, climate scientists, and many more – into its fourth decade.
Jason-CS/Sentinel-6 will ensure continuity of sea level observations for at least a decade. Like their predecessors, these satellites will provide ongoing measurements of global sea level rise – one of the most important impacts of human-caused climate change. The data will also support operational oceanography, improving forecasts of ocean currents as well as wind and wave conditions. In addition, it will help to improve forecasts of weather conditions likely to prevail two to four weeks ahead (e.g., hurricane intensity forecasting) and in the next season (e.g., El Niño, La Niña).
Jason-CS-A panels contribute to 40-year record of sea level rise
Jason-CS/Sentinel-6 will also aid weather prediction through a new experiment: Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO). Watching GNSS satellites as they disappear over the horizon will provide detailed information about the layers in the atmosphere. This information will contribute to computer models that predict the weather and enhance forecasting capabilities.
Since 1992, high-precision satellite altimeters have been essential to help scientists understand how the ocean stores and redistributes heat, water, and carbon in the climate system. The Jason-CS/Sentinel-6 satellites will extend this research through at least 2030, providing a nearly 40-year record of sea level rise, along with changes in ocean currents and conditions. (source: https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/jasoncsnew/ )
Airborne and STI create, design and process substrates together
Airborne tested multiple samples and proved that part of their heritage process was also suitable for the Jason project. Together with STI Airborne ultimately created a new design and performed new qualifications tests which were successful.
“The production of the substrates in such a size was for sure a challenge, especially considering the demanding and strict requirements for solar array application – limited mass, high strength and special insulation and cleanliness properties. And this complicated task was excellently mastered by Airborne. The production of the substrates is a very important base for the next steps of solar array production.”
– Anton Zhukov, project manager of Jason Solar Array project at STI –
The Jason-CS-A panels will be launched in 2020.
Want to know more? Meet us at the IAC Bremen 2018 – Hall 5, booth E60
Read more about this project on the blog of Alwin van der Pijl[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
