Overall layout of the SEVIRI instrument
The manufacture of all engineering model and thermal/mechanical model equipment is now underway in industry, except for the telescope and scan assembly of SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infra-Red Imager), which is being redesigned in order to meet both the launch and in-orbit thermal environments. It is hoped to release SEVIRI manufacture after supplementary Preliminary Design Reviews in October for the structure and in December for the scan assembly. The SEVIRI schedule is on a critical path.
Eumetsat is contributing a fixed amount to the MSG-1 ESA development programme and is fully financing MSG-2 and MSG-3, which are being procured by ESA on Eumetsat's behalf. Negotiations with industry for the three satellites MSG-1, 2 and 3 have been concluded and the contract is expected to be signed shortly.
The launch of MSG-1 is now scheduled for October 2000, with MSG-2 to be launched in 2002 and MSG-3 to go into storage (as the backup) in 2003.
Overall layout of the SEVIRI instrument
The Meteosat Transition Programme (MTP) spacecraft is fully integrated and environmental tests have started which are expected to be completed in early 1997. Compatibility tests will follow and the spacecraft's final overall performance will also be verified. Launch on an Ariane-4 vehicle is anticipated in the July to September 1997 timeframe.
The MTP spacecraft will be the last of the Meteosat Operational Programme (MOP) design, and once launched will be operated by Eumetsat to provide the regular weather pictures over Europe which are currently being provided by Meteosat-5, with Meteosat-6 as the in-orbit spare. Both these spacecraft were also provided under ESA spacecraft supply contracts.
Work has progressed at system level in Phase-B, including RF analysis and the establishment of finite-element structural and thermal models of the entire satellite including its payload. Preparations are well advanced for the coupled-load analysis of the dual-launch composite (Metop-1 and Spot-5) on the Ariane-5 launch vehicle.
The preparation of system, subsystem and support specifications, in readiness for the System Requirements Review at the end of the year, is well advanced.
The selection of subcontractors for the development of new units has been completed via a competitive tender action during the summer. Detailed design of these equipments is now in progress with the goal of establishing a detailed interface definition by the last quarter of 1996, and consolidated designs and parts lists at the beginning of 1997.
The payload definition has become clearer with a firmer definition of the GRAS instrument. Furthermore, the evaluation of ImS-3 as an alternative to GOME-2 has continued and the final selection of the candidate instrument for the ozone-monitoring mission should be completed soon.
The legal documents necessary to establish the development programme are now in good shape with broad agreement having been established with respect to both the Programme Proposal and the Cooperation Agreement. Potential Participants meetings continue to be held, the tenth such meeting having taken place on 12 September.
Approval is being sought for the bridging phase, due to start at the end of the year. In view of the delays now foreseen for the approval of the overall programme, agreement and proper funding of this bridging phase is mandatory if the cost and development schedule for METOP/EPS is to be maintained.
The ERS-1 payload continues in the hibernation initiated on 3 June 1996. SAR imaging activities continue over Kiruna for an average of two passes per day, for battery-preservation reasons. The payload will be re-awakened for three days every third repeat cycle for maintenance activities.
Scheduling of ERS-2 operations continues according to the Preferred Exploitation Plan.
Problems with the Active Microwave Instrument (AMI) during early August led to low data availability. These problems have been overcome in the short term by exploiting redundancy, pending a detailed investigation of the nominal chain in late September.
Minor anomalies continue to occur on the Radar Altimeter (RA), but have only a small impact on data availability.
The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) is still showing stable performance and the formal release of data products was initiated on 7 July 1996.
The Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) has been restored to full nominal performance and Precise Range and Range-Rate Equipment (PRARE) continues to perform well.
The spacecraft platform itself continues to be problem-free.
Following the loss of the four Cluster spacecraft on the first Ariane-5 test flight, the Agency's Science Programme Committee (SPC) has agreed to the building up of a single spacecraft largely from the spare models from the Cluster programme. The industrial contract is underway and delivery is expected in mid- 1997.
At its November 1996 meeting, the SPC will discuss the launch of this spacecraft, either as a single spacecraft mission called 'Phoenix', or as part of a new four-spacecraft mission to replace the original Cluster mission. A launch opportunity for Phoenix has not yet been finalised, but it could be during the last quarter of 1997. If Phoenix is launched as a single-spacecraft mission into the original Cluster orbit, it will not fulfil the original Cluster scientific objectives, but would instead support the existing fleet of international missions forming the ISTP (International Solar Terrestrial Physics) Programme. These missions include SOHO, Interball, Wind, Polar and Geotail.
Options for a reflight of a multipoint measurement mission such as Cluster are also being studied and will also be presented to the SPC at its November meeting. Currently the two options under study are either a single rebuild of Cluster including all of the original instruments, or the design and building of four smaller, simpler spacecraft carrying essentially the same payload as Cluster, but capable of being launched more cheaply into a direct polar orbit. Whichever option is chosen, the expected launch date would be mid-2000, by which time several of the other ISTP missions could be expected to have reached the ends of their useful lifetimes.
Huygens Probe flight model, during testing at IABG Ottobrunn (D).
With the development models (STPM and EM) of the Huygens Probe now at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California satisfactorily performing tests with the Cassini Orbiter System, attention in Europe is concentrated upon the integration and acceptance verification of the flight-model Probe.
Major achievements in Probe environmental testing have been the successful accomplishment of the Titan-entry cold-soak test in a pressurised atmosphere, the thermal-vacuum/ thermal-cycling test and a pyrotechnic shock test which followed the full pyrotechnics firing sequence for the Probe's descent to Titan's surface. Evaluation of the results of all these very significant tests has dispelled all of the doubts expressed at earlier times by independent reviewing authorities.
The Probe's acceptance testing continued with the Integrated System Test (IST) parts 1 and 2, followed by preparations for the final environmental tests, namely acoustic noise and vibration. The acoustic noise test is currently (mid-September) in progress. The future outlook is good, all indications pointing towards successful completion of testing early in 1997, with Probe acceptance at the end of February, leading to the start of the launch campaign in mid-March.
Artist's impression of the XMM spacecraft (courtesy: Visulab-
ESTEC)
The XMM Prime Contractor, Dornier (D), has finalised the contractual arrangements with most of its subcontractors. The tight schedule remains one of the biggest challenges for this project and Dornier and ESA management are well aware of the effort they have to make in order to achieve the agreed objective of launching in August 1999.
Work has continued for the Preliminary Design Reviews at equipment level which were due for completion at the end of August.
The environmental tests performed at Centre Spatial de Liège (CSL, B) on the qualification-model Mirror Module have been successfully completed, showing no optical performance degradation and no structural-integrity problems. Full- illumination X-ray tests on the Mirror Module at the Max Planck facility in Garching were conducted in August. Preliminary analysis of the test results confirms the good results obtained at CSL.
Production of the electroformed nickel mirrors is progressing at Media Lario (I) at the rate of five mirrors per week, and their quality is very good. By early September, a quarter of the flight mirrors had been integrated into the first of four flight Mirror Modules. Integration of a second module is progressing in parallel, with six mirrors integrated. One of the structural and thermally representative STM mirror modules is reaching the final stages of integration, with only nine of the fifty-eight dummy mirror shells still to be integrated. Four out of seven flight- quality high-precision spoke wheels ('spiders') into which the mirrors are integrated have been delivered by APCO (CH), which has also delivered all of the superclean containers for the transport and storage of the complete flight Mirror Modules. The production of the 58 mirror masters (mandrels) by Carl Zeiss (D) was completed ahead of schedule.
Manufacture and testing of the engineering qualification models of the experiments is in progress. The grating spectrometer will be the first instrument to be X-ray-tested with the mirror qualification model in the PANTER facility (D), followed by the X-ray cameras. Following a design review of the structural part of the optical monitoring telescope, manufacture of the mirrors has started.
Development of the complete Ground Segment for XMM is entrusted to ESOC in Darmstadt (D). User Requirements Documents for all ground-segment software and hardware elements have been reviewed and issued. The evaluation of industrial proposals received for the ground segment's development was completed in August and contract kick-off took place in early September.
In preparation for the baselined launch on Ariane-5, the definition of the mechanical interface has been updated and detailed study of the coast phase has been initiated. Failure- tolerance criteria required by the launch-vehicle authority have been agreed, clearing the way for the Phase-1 Safety Submission.
Current configuration of the integral spacecraft (with stowed solar arrays)
The spacecraft Preliminary Design Review has been successfully completed, subject to the satisfactory close-out of certain items highlighted during the review process. The further actions focused mainly on items linked to the attitude and orbit control system, the onboard software and the specifics of the Proton launch. The commonality of the Service Module design with that for XMM was examined and further confirmed.
In parallel with this review, the Prime Contractor's (Alenia, I) proposal for the main development phase (Phase-C/D) was received and evaluated.
Key instrument technologies are under development, such as ASICs for the Imager and cryo-cooling for the Spectrometer. Most instrument teams are now fully supported by industrial partners and good progress is expected in the coming months. Some instrument tasks have been rescheduled to meet the overall schedule objectives of the programme.
The various components of the science and operations ground segments have been further defined and the interfaces clarified.
The industrial responses to the spacecraft Invitation to Tender have been received on schedule and are currently under evaluation. The offers cover the entire development programme (i.e. Phases-B and C/D) and their evaluation is scheduled to be completed in early 1997.
The project team have commenced the second round of meetings with the potential payload groups and the definition of the Orbiter's payload is converging rapidly. The majority of the tasks assigned to the confirmation phase will have been completed in time for the payload to be fully defined by the start of Phase-B, currently scheduled for March 1997.
Work on the definition of the Rosetta Surface Science Packages - Champollion and Roland - has continued, together with an investigation of the ability of a single Lander to satisfying the majority of the requirements. The latter has been instigated due to uncertainty about the availability of resources, both on the spacecraft side and in the participating Member States, to fully support two separate Landers. The outcome of these deliberations is due to be presented to the SPC at its November meeting.
Ground-segment definition is continuing with the possibility of providing an ESA deep-space terminal in the Southern Hemisphere to support the mission under consideration.
The second Science Working Team Meeting took place at ESTEC (NL) in early October.
Future programmes Following on from the consultations with the European Earth Science Community on the nine candidate Earth Explorer Missions, reported in the last Bulletin, the Reports for Assessment and the comments of the Science Community have been examined by the Earth Science Advisory Committee. This has resulted in a recommendation to ESA's Earth Observation Programme Board for Phase-A studies of four missions:
Campaigns
Activities in the last quarter
have focussed on the flights associated with the INDREX campaign
over the Indonesian rain forests. In parallel, data processing
for both the EMAC and POLRAD campaigns has continued.
Envisat
system
Detailed planning for the Critical Design
Reviews (CDRs) to verify the Envisat system's overall coherency
has been established, following bottom-up approach and
culminating with the EMS CDR planned to start mid-February next
year.
A Data Policy Working Group has been set up to define the policy that will govern user access to the data products to be made available after launch.
Polar Platform (PPF)
Structural model of the PPF under test at ESTEC (NL)
Following the recent detailed discussions with the Delegate Bodies representing the Member States participating in the programme, cost reductions have been implemented in PPF activities by reducing test, analyses and hardware, particularly as regards spare units. These measures have been reflected in the planning and detailed development documents.
The PPF structural-model programme has continued with the execution of the acoustic test, the appendages release, shock test and the fit-check with the Large Space Simulator (LSS). This fit check has been performed to prepare for thermal test activities to be executed later with the flight-model Payload Module.
The Payload Module Equipment Bay (PEB) engineering model's acceptance has been completed by Dornier (D), and the Module has been delivered to Matra Marconi Space (B) where the integration and test activities will continue.
The proto-flight Service Module's integration at Matra Marconi Space (F) has been completed, but the acceptance tests are being delayed by electrical compatibility problems with the reaction wheels and the recently delivered Dual-Mode S-Band Transponder.
Envisat-1 payload
A major achievement in
the payload's development programme was the signature of the
contract between ESA and Dornier, the mission Prime Contractor,
in Paris on 17 July. Coming at the end of a long and difficult
cost-reduction exercise, this contract with strict financial and
schedule conditions has established a solid basis for the Envisat
instrument development by industry.
Following the delivery of all of the instrument structural models, the emphasis is now on engineering-model development and testing. The engineering model of the AATSR instrument has already been delivered; the remaining instruments are now under test and are expected to be delivered in September/October.
Work is also well in hand on the flight-model units, most of which are now in manufacture. In several cases, equipment-level acceptance tests have been completed and the units delivered for integration. Overall planning remains consistent with a mid-1999 launch date.
At instrument level, the Critical Design Reviews are now being carried out and are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Envisat-1 ground segment
Flight Operation
Segment development is progressing according to plan and the
Baseline Design Review is planned for the end of this year.
The ground-segment Payload Data Segment (PDS) Critical Design Review was successfully completed mid-July, providing an adequate basis for finalising the PDS contract negotiations, aiming for contract signature in the fourth quarter of 1996.
The definition of the instrument data-processing algorithms is progressing well, with those for GOMOS and MIPAS having been delivered and the corresponding PDS developments having been initiated in July 1996. The various algorithm documents are being reviewed with the support of the corresponding Scientific Advisory Groups.
Artist's impression of the International Space Station (by D.
Ducros)
International Space Station Programme (ISS)
Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)
Phase-B1 was
completed with a final presentation in Bremen (D) at the end of
May. Following the Industrial Policy Committee's (IPC) approval
for Phase-B2, a Request for Quotation (RFQ) was sent out by ESA
in early June. The proposal was received by the end of that month
and, following the Tender Evaluation Board's approval, the kick-
off meeting was held on 4 July 1996. The RFQ for Phase-C/D is in
preparation and its formal issue is expected by the end of
October, assuming approval by the September IPC of the
procurement proposal.
Early deliveries
Data Management System for the Russian Service Module (DMS-
R)
The delay in the development of the SPARC chipset used
by the DMS-R was giving cause for concern, but this issue has now
been successfully resolved.
European Robotic Arm (ERA)
The ESA/RSA Arrangement
for ERA was signed on 29 July by the Director Generals of the two
agencies. This signature has facilitated the cooperation between
the European and Russian partners, and work is proceeding at a
greater pace as a result.
The ERA Preliminary Design Review (PDR) Board meeting in May had identified a number of key issues which needed priority assessment before the Review could be declared closed. Satisfactory progress has since been made at Fokker Space (NL), and the PDR has now been declared formally closed.
The first deliverables to the Russian segment are expected to be completed towards the end of the next quarter, with the Geometric Model being delivered to RSC-Energia. This model will be used for fit checks and configuration analysis.
A change to the ERA Contract to accommodate a change to a Shuttle launch (with the Russian Scientific and Power Platform), instead of the originally foreseen Russian vehicle, is in progress.
Laboratory Support Equipment
The Memorandum of
Understanding that identifies the European early utilisation
early deliveries for the Space Station has been further
negotiated by NASA and ESA representatives and is now ready for
signature.
Following issue of the competitive Invitation to Tender for MELFI (Minus Eighty Degree Centigrade Laboratory Freezer for ISS) and the selection of the contractor, the Phase-c/D negotiation were started. In parallel a preliminary authorisation to proceed has allowed industrial activities to start. Contract signature is expected in the second half of October. In the same period, the subsystem PDRs will take place, to be followed by the Crew Review at NASA and by the system PDR closeout that will take place at Matra Marconi Space in December.
Following the submission of the industrial proposal for MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) and a first round of negotiation, a preliminary authorisation to proceed has allowed Phase-C/D activities to start. In parallel, the final Phase-B work on the development model has been successfully completed. The project PDR will take place at DASA (D) in the second half of October.
Industry's programmatic assessment for the Hexapod is expected in October and will be followed by issue by the Agency of the RFQ for Phase-C/D in early November. The Phase-B Final Review is scheduled for December.
Utilisation
Artist's impression of the Columbus Orbital Facility (COF)(by D.Ducros)
At its meeting on 2/3 July, the Manned Space Programme Board discussed the terms of reference of the European Utilisation Board (EUB) and agreed with the plan of the Executive to convene the EUB's first meeting. This meeting, held on 4 September, was successful in further elaborating the EUB's terms of reference and in constructively discussing aspects of Space Station user access, as well as the formalities of the imminent release of an Announcement of Opportunities for the Space Station Early Utilisation (utilisation prior to the Columbus Orbital Facility's availability, using NASA elements).
Space Station Utilisation planning for Europe is progressing well. Agreements have been reached with the ESA User Directorates (Space Science, Earth Observation, Technology) on how to organise their involvement in Utilisation Preparation. Preliminary plans for major facilities to be provided via these Directorates have been drafted and will be further defined through studies to be initiated in the next few months. For the Microgravity discipline, the gore utilisation element will be the Microgravity Facilities for Columbus (MFC) Programme.
Space Station Utilisation for Europe was further discussed at the First Symposium on Space Station Utilisation, held at ESOC in Darmstadt (D), at the end of September.
Microgravity Programmes
European Microgravity Research (EMIR-1 and 2)
The
EMIR-2 Programme was approved at the Microgravity Programme Board
meeting on 5 July. The run-out EMIR-1 and the start of EMIR-2
will overlap in the years 1996 to 1998, with EMIR-2 then
continuing through 2001.
The Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS)/STS-78 mission from 20 June to 7 July 1996 carried five ESA multi-user facilities: the Advanced Gradient Heating Facility (AGHF, maiden flight), the Advanced Protein Crystallisation Facility (APCF, fourth flight), the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU, second flight), the Torque Velocity Dynamometer (TVD, maiden flight) and the Microgravity Measurement Assembly (MMA, second flight). STS-78 was the longest Shuttle mission to date, lasting 16 d 21 h 48 min. It was also extremely successful in that all of the ESA experiments could be performed exactly as planned.
Biobox and Biopan are in preparation for their two-week flights in a Russian Foton capsule in late 1996, and Biorack for its fifth flight on Shuttle flight STS-81 in January 1997.
Microgravity Facilities for Columbus (MFC)
The
Phase-B studies for the major elements of Biolab, the Fluid
Science Laboratory and the Materials Science Laboratory for this
new microgravity programme are progressing well, financed from
the EMIR-1 Programme. MFC funds, approved at the Toulouse
Ministerial Council in October 1995, will become available in
1997 for Phase-C/D work on the above facilities.
ESA Bulletin Nr. 88.