Airbus Defense & Space invests 50 million euros in Toulouse
Posted Oct 17, 2022 1:18 PM
Airbus Defense and Space (Airbus D&S) will invest 50 million euros in the renewal of its satellite test resources in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne). It will build two thermal vacuum tanks between 2023 and 2025 on the Astrolabe site, near CNES. These tanks reproduce the vacuum at 0.05 millibars and the large temperature differences in space from -180 to +150 degrees.
The large tank will replace a test facility from the 1970s. It will be semi-buried to facilitate loading and placed in a 4,800 square meter building, including 1,800 m² of clean room. The total cost is 40 million. “It will allow us to test two large satellites of 5 tonnes and 8 meters high in parallel, which will give us more flexibility because the thermal tests last two months on average”, explains Alain Frizon, the director of the Toulouse establishment.
Smaller (72 cubic meters), the second thermal vacuum tank will be used to test spacecraft weighing up to 3 tonnes, such as the new OneSat telecom satellites, reconfigurable in geostationary orbit to cover different areas, change frequency and capacity ( 6 are ordered). These test resources could be used by new space companies and CNES, but not by competitor Thales Alenia Space. They will also be used for pyrotechnics and electromagnetic compatibility tests.
Recruitments
The group’s reference center for satellite testing, the establishment tests resistance to vibrations and sound waves from a rocket on takeoff, up to 160 decibels! It is the largest and the only site in the group to carry out all stages of the construction of satellites, from concept to manufacturing. It also provides telecommunications services to national defense and NATO. Finally, it assembles batteries for Ariane rockets and becomes the reference center for batteries for the entire Airbus group, for airplanes and helicopters.
The establishment employs more than 4,400 employees and recruits 450 people in 2022, providing more than a hundred positions. Adding the 1,500 subcontractors, the site has 6,000 people. It is cramped and is negotiating with Toulouse Métropole for the acquisition of adjoining land to install test facilities.
Airbus D&S is delivering five satellites this year, including two Hotbirds to Eutelsat, the Measat 3D communications satellite and two Earth observation Pléiades Neo with a resolution of 30 cm. But it recorded few orders in 2022, mainly small 150 kg Arrow satellites derived from the Oneweb telecoms constellation, the first ten of which were integrated in Toulouse and the other 638 in the United States by the joint subsidiary with OneWeb. He sold 15 Arrow platforms to the young company Loft Orbital and obtained a prestigious contract from Northrop Grumman to manufacture in the United States 42 slightly larger Arrow (400 kg), for the Transport Layer constellation which improved the connectivity of the US army.