Airborne (The Hague, The Netherlands) has delivered the last four of 10 substrates of size XL to Airbus Defense & Space Company (Leiden, The Netherlands) for the European Space Agency (ESA) exploration of Jupiter ’s JUICE spacecraft .
JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer: Jupiter Extreme Cold Satellite Explorer) is the interstellar spacecraft being developed by the European Space Agency and the main contractor Airbus Defense and Space (Netherlands). Its mission is to explore the moons of Jupiter, including Europa, Europa, and Europa (Europa, Ganymede, Callisto).
In view of the ultra-long distance from the sun, the JUICE spacecraft requires a huge array of solar cells to ensure that it generates enough power. Airborne was selected as the developer and manufacturer of JUICE solar cell array substrates by Airbus Defense and Aerospace (Netherlands). The total surface area of the solar cell array reaches 85 square meters. The satellite will be equipped with the largest solar cell array in the interplanetary mission. The area of each solar panel is 9 square meters. In order to achieve production, Airborne has improved production equipment, such as changing the internal maximum diameter of the autoclave from 2.6 meters to 2.9 meters.
The new ARA Mk4 technology was used to manufacture the JUICE solar cell array, which was developed by Airbus Defense and Aerospace (Netherlands) in cooperation with Airborne. This technology reduces costs by 20% and improves the robustness of the solar cell array by expanding the temperature range and increasing rigidity. Since the satellite will be in an extreme environment during the entire mission, the solar panel needs to withstand a low temperature of -240 ° C and space radiation.
The solar cell substrate uses the next-generation aerospace-grade RS-36 epoxy-based thermosetting prepreg developed by Toray Advanced Composites (formerly Tanka Advanced Composites), which is used for panels, edge parts Patch field.
Because the artificial satellite is in the extreme environment around Jupiter, it is necessary to perform additional certification on the design of the substrate and its interface. Airborne produced 160 samples for certification testing and two full-size substrates, and delivered them in January 2017. After Airbus Defense and Aerospace (Netherlands) completed a round of rigorous testing, Airborne produced a total of 10 substrates. The final four substrates were completed in October 2019. JUICE plans to launch in 2022.
Arno van Mourik, CEO of Airborne, said: "Space missions are extremely demanding, and the JUICE project is a good example of our cutting-edge solar cell array substrate technology application. Combining the capabilities of commercialization of composite materials, we will move forward firmly to provide solutions with high performance, reasonable prices and high output for exploring new cosmic space. "