ESA Ambassador Visits ESTL

Alan Cross, the European Space Agency’s newly appointed Ambassador for the North West of England, visited ESR Technology this week and toured its space cleanroom. Alan was particularly interested in ESTL, the European Space Tribology Laboratory, which ESR Technology operates. ESTL acts as an external facility for ESA and the European space mechanism community and is recognised as a centre of excellence in all aspects of friction, lubrication and wear in mechanical systems that operate in space and vacuum environments.

This brand new role involves identifying individuals, companies, agencies and organisations across the North West and North Wales who are involved in space applications, or have the potential to grow their business by using the resources of space, and providing guidance and support via ESA Business Applications.

Simon Griffin, ESR Technology Business Director for Space said; ‘I was delighted to welcome Alan to ESR Technology and show him the important contribution that ESTL makes to the reliability and performance of many of Europe’s spacecraft mechanisms. We are possibly the largest and longest standing space businesses in the North West. We welcome Alan’s appointment to support the space community in this region and will undoubtedly work with him more as he develops his new role."