ESR Technology is proud that, on behalf of ESA, it operates the European Space Tribology Laboratory (ESTL) that has provided continuous friction and lubrication support to ESA and to the wider European space community for all of ESA’s 50 years… and more.
In 1971, as UK audiences watched the Apollo 15 lunar rover and Star Trek aired for the first time (with its famous opening line from Captain James T Kirk “Space, the final frontier…” ), ESA’s predecessor, ESRO, foresaw the need for a centre of excellence to support space mechanism development. With a mission “to improve spacecraft efficiency and reliability through the application of good tribology”, they began searching for a partner to build the necessary expertise and facilities.
Our laboratory, based in Warrington, was duly formed and commenced operations in 1972, supporting ESA and a fledgling European space industry, at that time, with space mechanism thermal vacuum tests, a lubricant research programme and commercial consultancies to share expertise with industry.
In ESTL’s first years it supported long term thermal vacuum tests of “solar paddle drives”, accelerated tests of solar array drives and development of gimballed momentum wheel (pictured below under test) as well as de-spin mechanisms, antenna pointing mechanisms and power transfer devices. R&D work in the early days began with work on dry lubricated slip rings and use of lead for lubrication of ball bearings.
Over the years, we’ve supported all major ESA missions, starting with the Orbital Test Satellite programme in the 1970s. Our contributions include comet chasers Giotto (1980s) and Rosetta (2000s), space telescopes like Hubble, ISO, and the James Webb Space Telescope, and science missions to Mars, Venus, Mercury (BepiColombo), Saturn (Huygens to Titan), Jupiter’s moons (Juice), and the Solar missions (Soho and Solar Orbiter). We’ve also supported ESA’s Earth observation and climate missions, notably Envisat, EarthCARE’s Broadband Radiometer, and several Copernicus programme missions.
While ESA’s science missions drive innovation and headlines, commercial spaceflights dominate in number. ESTL has supported around 400–500 missions with expert advice, testing, and lubricants. Today, we continue to assist ESA and over 200 companies across 23 member and cooperating states with technical reports and guides, consultancy, lubricants, and access to specialised test facilities.
So – happy anniversary ESA, and thanks for trusting us to support your critical missions this last half century. It’s been a fascinating and challenging journey which we look forward to continuing.
As captain James T Kirk never quite said, “Space, the final frontier… of tribology”.
A ‘70s era gimballed momentum wheel under test at ESTL
OTS programme flight hardware under test ‘70’s
Hubble solar array drive testing ’80’s
ESTL’s thermal vacuum test facilities today