ELECTRA Mechanical Ground Support Equipment HVRD Batch and MGSE Batch 3

SENER is responsible for the design and production of Mechanical Ground Support Equipment (MGSE) for Electra mission. This is a mission supported by the European Space Agency (ESA), in the framework of public-private partnership, for developing, launching and validating in orbit a full electric-propulsion telecommunications satellite in the 3-ton launch mass range. The launch of the first Electra satellite is scheduled for 2023.

The devices designed by SENER for the purposes of the Electra project will provide, among others, a secure and ergonomic support of the flight panels for equipment integration. Thanks to the possibility of adjusting the configuration, these devices (i.e. HVRDs, Horizontally and Vertically Rotating Dollies) can be used for panels of various sizes and mass. SENER is also responsible for the frames for S/C panels’ integration, which are mounted on HVRD; some of them provide Mass Balancing System, in order to allow adjusting CoG of the assembly. HVRDs provide vertical movement (manually/electric driven) and rotation of the panels (manually driven).

Among the devices, that SENER will provide will also be a Vertical Integration Stand (VIS) that will support the central structure of the satellite during the integration of the equipped panels and payload modules. For this date, SENER delivered to the Client in frame of Phase 2 one VIS and three HVRDs with two corresponding frames. In Phase 3 Sener will deliver second VIS with auxiliary equipment and five additional frames for HVRD.

SENER Aeroespacial participation at Electra mission

Besides the Mechanical Ground Support Equipment for Electra, SENER Aeroespacial is also in charge of the telemetry and telecommand antennas in Ku band, and of two global coverage antennas, one for transmission and the other one for reception.

The goal of Electra is to develop a new class of telecommunications satellites. Thanks to the use of the electric propulsion, their mass, and thus the cost of launching into orbit, will be much smaller than those with chemical propulsion.

Electric propulsion is becoming an established solution in the space industry, as practice shows that the mass of electric propulsion is up to 90% smaller than traditional chemical propulsion. This translates into a mass reduction of the satellite by almost half. Considering the high costs of lifting every kilogram into orbit, such a large weight reduction enables a radical reduction in the costs of space missions and increasing their availability for entities that previously couldn´t afford it.