Satellites (Foton) - ESA contracts

ARIEL

Prime contractor Verahert - Belgium

Prime Contractor Verhaert, from Belgium, contacted DTM to assign them the mechanical development of Ariel (Kayser Italia was responsible for electronic and software). This is due to the large experience of DTM designers on critical boiling phenomena, like the one to be investigated in the Foton mission. DTM personnel has been involved, several times in the past, in sounding rocket campaigns, to investigate on short missions the physical behaviour of critical phase fluids in micro-gravity conditions. Gabriel 1 and its re-flight Gabriel 2 are the most significant examples of the experience gained with Gravity Assessment for Boiling Research and Investigation with Electric field (acronym of Gabriel). In this application, DTM had to face the severe specifications dictated by ESA and Russian scientists and payload experts, to be certified for flight on Foton M-1.

3D CAD drawing
3D CAD representation of an Ariel detail

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