ESR Technology gains Master Supplier status!

ESR Technology, a Hyder Consulting group company and provider of space mechanism design and manufacture, has been awarded Master Supplier by Airbus Defence and Space at a presentation on 1st July 2014.
For over two decades, ESR Technology’s space business has been supplying Airbus DS with Solar Array Drive Mechanism (SADM) baseplate subassemblies. Every Airbus ‘Eurostar’ telecommunication satellite has two SADMs, which are used to point the solar arrays towards the Sun and transfer the electrical power to the spacecraft.
ESR rewarded for high performance
The Airbus DS award was given in recognition of ESR’s continuous high performance, evaluated annually by Airbus DS against five key criteria; logistics, commercial, technical, customer support and quality. Although the award was given primarily for ESR’s SADM baseplates, it also encompasses the company’s supply of bearings for another Airbus DS spacecraft mechanism, the Antenna Deployment and Trimming Mechanism.
A dedicated team of engineers in the ESR Space business meticulously assemble each baseplate from a kit of high-precision components manufactured by key suppliers. The SADM’s thin-section bearings and its ring gear are lubricated with ESTL’s ultra-thin films of sputtered lead.
The fully integrated SADM baseplate is then tested in vacuum, and delivered to Airbus DS in person as part of the Delivery Review. Following integration and testing at SADM level, the whole assembly is fitted onto the next Eurostar telecommunications satellite.
