Payload of the Soho spacecraft being removed from the Service Module at Matra, Toulouse (F)
On 13 September, Ulysses passed a major milestone in its journey of exploration over the poles of the Sun. On that day, the spacecraft reached its maximum latitude in the southern hemisphere, 80.2 degrees south of the Sun's equator. Ulyssesis now slowly climbing back towards the ecliptic, en route to the north polar regions which it will explore in mid-1995. The mission continues to run smoothly.
Ulysses nutation-damping operations commenced on 11 August. The spacecaft is being tracked almost continuously from either NASA's Canberra Deep Space Network (DSN) complex in Australia or the ESA Kourou station in French Guiana. These measures were taken in anticipation of the predicted onset of the nutation-like motion that disturbed the spacecaft early in the mission. In this mode of operation, active damping is achieved through use of the onboard Conscan system, which maintains the high-gain antenna Earth-pointing within a preset deadband. This in turn requires a continuous uplink signal from the ground. Geographical coverage limitations at Canberra (the only DSN complex in the Southern Hemisphere) made it necessary to include an extra station to ensure almost continuous coverage. At the time of reporting, no evidence of the return of the disturbance has been found.
The mission's scientific activities also reached a peak in the week of 13 September, when a three-day Workshop attended by more than 80 Ulysses investigators washeld in ESTEC (NL). The ESTEC Conference Centre was transformed into a lively scientific `laboratory' for the duration of the Workshop, with each experiment team working on the latest data. The Workshop was followed up with a Press Day on 16 September.
The flight-model Payload Module (PLM) has completed experiment integration in June, problems with several experiments having been corrected or at least identified for further attention later. A system functional test took place at Matra Marconi Space (MMS-UK) in Portsmouth (UK) in the second half of June, with all experiments integrated. The PLM was shipped to Toulouse at the end of July.
Payload of the Soho spacecraft being removed from the Service Module
at Matra, Toulouse (F)
The Service Module (SVM) completed its integration and testing in Toulouse by the end of June and has undergone, ahead of schedule, itsphysical-properties test during a brief excursion to the nearby Intespace test complex.
Activities at Matra Maconi in Toulouse (MMS-F) are now planned on a double- shift basis to maintain the agreed launch date.
The EQM model of the European Solid-State Recorder joined the rest of the spacecraft at the end of August after successful completion of its qualification testing.
ESA-NASA cooperation
The Critical Design Review for the Soho launch vehicle (Atlas II AS flight AC-117) took place in San Diego on 22 23 June and the conclusions were generally positive, with a few items highlighted for further attention. The Ground Segment Compatibility Test between the NASA control system at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)and the SVM in Toulouse took place in June. Commercial communication lines were used to link the two sites for this first closed-loop test between the spacecraft and its future controllers. This test was also concluded positively and lessons learned will be used to improve and refine the ground segment.
Experiments
All experimenters have delivered flight-quality models, allowing full testing at system level to proceed. In a few cases, extra activities have been planned in the rest of the environmental test programme to modify or improve some elements of certain experiments (e.g. detectors, PROMS).
The UVCS and SUMER experimenters in particular will refurbish their flight models later in the programme with flight detectors and/or mechanisms that are being reworked. The cross delay line detectors (XDL) of both UVCS and SUMER are proceeding according to schedule, with a demonstration model and the first flight model already delivered to UVCS.
The preparatory work to set up the Experiment Operations Facility (EOF) at NASA-GSFC has progressed in terms of both physical setup (rooms, furniture, etc.) and testing of the interconnections between the experimenter-provided and -operated Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE)and the main control facility.
Both the protoflight model (PFM) ad F2 spacecraft have almost completed their environmental test programme at IABG Munich.
The F3 spacecraft is currently in its thermal test programme, following which it will be prepared for vibration testing in a stack configuration with F4.
The F4 spacecraft has completed all subsystem and payload integration and testing and is ready for shipment to IABG to commence environmental testing.
During the second week of October, all four fully integrated flight spacecraft will be together in the IABG clean room. This opportunity will be used to introduce the Cluster programme to the press.
After this press event, the PFM and F2 spacecraft will be returned to Dornier, where the scientific payload will be removed for refurbishment and fitting of final flight detectors to the sensors.
The F3 and F4 spacecraft will continue their environmental test programme at IABG.
The first two flight models of the Solid-State Recorders are due for delivery in mid-October, followed by the second pair before the end of 1994.
The groups responsible for the scientific payload are now preparing for the detector exchange and calibration phase on the instruments prior to them being reintegrated early in 1995 in preparation fordelivery. Most sensors onPFM,F2and F3 will be exchanged, whilst some sensitive components of the F4 sensors may also be included in the refurbishment programme. This programme ensures that only prime-quality detectors will be flown on the mission.
The ESOC ground-segment tasks are proceeding on schedule, with the majority of the hardware now delivered and first release of the software available for operations tasks. The ground-segment implementation review is scheduled for mid-November.
The Science Data System effort also continues on schedule, with the first issue of the User Interface delivered and successfully installed at all data centres. The Joint Science Operations Centre is on schedule, and detailed interface definition with ESOC covering payload commanding and health and safety monitoring is complete.
No change to the declared launch date of 1 December 1995 has been notified by the Ariane-5 Apex programme; a confirmation is expected before the end of 1994.
The flight-model Payload Module of the Infrared Space Observatory was delivered to ESTEC (NL) in June. It was subsequently mated with the flight-model Service Module. Since then, the satellite and its scientific instruments have been subjected to extensive electrical, functional and electromagnetic cleanliness tests, all of which were completed successfully.
One concern arising out of all the above tests is that the Payload Module's cryocover (ejected in orbit) has some local warm areas which disturb the most sensitive detectors of one particular scientific instrument. Investigations are underway to identify the possible causes and to find solutions.
The satellite will now be subjected to mechanical environment tests, both acoustic and vibration.
Work on the ground segment is also proceeding satisfactorily. A major step forward has been the successful completion of interface tests between spacecraft and science operations development software at the Agency's Villafranca ground station, near Madrid.
The project continues on schedule for the planned September 1995 launch date.
Integration of the Structural/Thermal/Pyro Model (STPM) Probe was completed in DASA, Ottobrunn (D) during August, in line with the nominal project planning. This Probe model will be used for mechanical qualification testing and is therefore built with flight-standard structure, covers, mechanisms, heat shield, etc. Mechanically and thermally it is identical to the flight-model Probe.
The integration process flowed quite smoothly despite a number of minor problems being found which gave rise to the generation of Non-Conformance Reports (NCRs). Resolution of these NCRs was usually achieved by local repair, with appropriate feedback to the subsystem manufacturers to eliminate such problems on flight units. System-level testing of the STPM is underway with the final Physical Properties Test sequence already completed.
Integration of the engineering model (EM) Probe has been underway since mid-July with system-level testing planned to start in mid-October, following the Electrical Hardware Design Review. The EM Probe will be electrically representative of the flight model, but mechanically will be in the Entry Module configuration, i.e. without the deceleration/heat shield and back-cover structures, and without certain release mechanisms.
In general terms, the project is proceeding very well, with technical concerns progressively being eased. Schedule maintenance is still a key issue and is receiving constant management attention.
Working interfaces with JPL/NASA partners continue to be good, with NASA'S reaffirmation of Cassini project continuation with a baseline launch date of October 1997, providing a morale boost for all project participants.
ISO-Flight model satellite at ESTEC (NL), after mating of the Service and Payload Modules, in July 1994
The four Cluster spacecraft, together at IABG, Ottobrun(D)
Recent activities have concentrated on the definition of the Rosetta Orbiter by an ESA in-house team in preparation for interface definitions to the Orbiter Payload and the two Surface Science Packages. This definition will be used as the inputs to a detailed definition phase due to commence in late October in which Industry will work in close cooperation with the ESA team to trade off options for various mission-critical items.
The industrial support phase will last a minimum of one year and will be conducted by two parallel industrial groups to ensure that all identified options are studied from different angles.
At a recent meeting with the Surface Science Package (SSP) suppliers, concepts for the Orbiter and the individual SSPs were extensively discussed. In general, the SSPs being studied by the two groups, forwhich ESA will receive formal proposals in November, are both compatible with the current Orbiter baseline design features. Additionally, the meeting covered the flight operational requirements originating from the SSPs and their interaction with the baseline Orbiter mission.
Following receipt of the proposals in November, it is expected that the two SSP suppliers will prepare payload Announcements of Opportunity (AO) for simultaneous issue with the ESA Orbiter payload AO in March 1995.
The selection of the SSP payload is proposed to be done initially by the suppliers. This will be followed by a full proposal update to the Agency in time for the normal ESA payload selection process, which will be applied to the Orbiter payload proposals. This approach will ensure that the overall scientific return from the mission is fully coordinated.
Assembly of the Huygens (STPM) Probe at DASA, Ottobrun (D)
Steady progress has been made on the preparation and issue of interface- requirements drawings for the engineering and structural models of the satellite. Equipment layout drawings for these models, as well as the PFM satellite, are virtually complete.
Engineering/qualification models (EQM's) of many equipment items are now entering their test programmes, and Baseline Design Reviews are being held at subsystem level.
Preliminary results of the coupled load analysis have been issued by the launch-vehicle authority and reviewed by the ALS system team. Initial results are positive in that the load-analysis values show that the quasi-static levels defined in the environmental specification are not exceeded.
Significant progress has been achieved in the finalisation of the test requirements and Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) planning for the three satellite models (SM, EM and PFM). Definition of the requirements for the AIT campaigns using the ESTEC test facilities has also continued. A review has been made of the AIT activities with a view to improving the schedule.
Some improvements on the Hi-Rel parts delivery forecasts have been achieved and more manpower is now being devoted to procurement follow-up.
Silex system and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) terminal for Spot-4
The first results of the microvibration test performed on the structural/thermal model (STM)of the LEO terminal are very encouraging in so far as they show a lower than expected sensitivity of the pointing performance to microvibrations.
The acoustic vibration tests on the STM have been completed and the measured levels on the critical optical head have been found to be equal to or lower than the predicted ones. The STM terminal has also successfully completed the solar vacuum test campaign.
Integration of the EQM terminal is under way, but the schedule remains critical due to delays in some equipment deliveries.
An in-depth analysis of the critical paths has been performed with the Prime Contractor, leading to the identification of an alternative integration sequence which will minimise the effects of these delays.
The current DRS phase isalmost complete. The Phase-B2 proposal received from industry to perform all the technical activitiesup to the start of Phase-C/D has been negotiated and agreed. Prime Contractor activities have been initiated under a Limit of Liability.
Since this phase will prepare the technical and programmatic material for the DRS Phase-C/D proposal, the ESA Request for Proposal for that phase is an essential input ensuring that the work is carried out on a secure basis. The Procurement Proposal for Phase-C/D was presented to ESA's Industrial Policy Committee (IPC) in May, but was withdrawn following a request by several Delegations that the JCB should first discuss the strategy to be followed.
The offers received for the S-Band Data Relay (SDR) receive and transmit active phase array have been evaluated and negotiated, and preferred suppliers have been identified. The development and manufacture of this payload is planned to be performed in two steps, in line with the DRS Phases 1 and 2. The EQM equipment will be developed and manufactured and high-rel parts will be procured in Phase 1, while the assembly, integration and test of the EQM payload and the manufacturing, assembly and test of the flight payloads will be performed in Phase 2. Because of the uncertainties in the DRTM Programme due to the need to finance the launch of Artemis, presentation of a Contract Proposal for the Phase 1 activities to the IPC has been delayed.
Additional procurements have been made of those items of equipment that are common to Artemis and DRS.They will first serve as integration spares for Artemis, and will subsequently be used for the DRS-1 satellite.
Experimental S-Band Terminal (ESBT)
The transponder has now been repaired with a new multilayer board. ESBT delivery to CNES is expected to take place in November.
Ground segment
The Agency has received a proposal for the Artemis spacecraft-control ground segment from a newly-formed consortium ALTEL, consisting of groups from Alenia Spazio and Telespazio.
The ALTEL proposal was discussed at the special JCB held in ESOC on 6 July and further discussions are being held in readiness for the September IPC and October JCB.
Artemis ground-segment activities unaffected by the ALTEL offer continue as planned with, in particular, the delivery and test of the SILEX LEO Mission Control System to be installed at ESA's Redu (B) ground station.
Interface tests with the CNES Spot-4 control centre have started and will lead to system tests with the SPOT/PASTEL spacecraft engineering model next year.
Almost all In-Orbit Test Facility procurements are now underway.
User interfaces
An Agency review of the interfaces between Artemis/DRS and Envisat has been held. This concluded that all major aspects of the inter-orbit link interfaces were properly defined and reflected in the plans and designs of both programmes.
Definition of the DRS user terminal that is planned to be carried on the Columbus Orbital Facility (COF) continues. It has now been agreed by NASA that such a terminal may be carried and used to transfer data from the COF directly to Europe.
The Atmosphere Re-entry Demonstrator programme has identified that it would be attractive for the vehicle to carry a data-relay link to maximise the information recovery during the flight, and discussions have been held to define a cheap, simple means of providing such a link.
The Memorandum of Understanding governing collaboration between ESA and NASDA, the Japanese Space Agency, for the OICETS/Artemis experiment was approved by the ESA Council in June.
The health of the satellite after three years of operation in orbit remains excellent, with all systems operating within specification and so far only one in-flight redundancy being used (instrument data transmission travelling wave tube). As ERS-1's design life was three years, some of its elements are approaching the end of their qualified life. However , since the available redundancy has not yet been used, considerable operating lifetime remains and ERS-1 should therefore be available as a standby for ERS-2 and to support tandem operation with ERS-2 during much of the latter'soperational life.
The satellite integration and test activities have now been completed and preparations are underway for launch at the end of 1994/beginning 1995 from Kourou on an Ariane-4 launch vehicle.
The orbit into which ERS-2 will be injected is carefully phased with the very similar orbit of ERS-1 to ensure a constant offset between the two satellites. The same point on the ground will be revisited by the two satellites within a one or eight-day period.
An Announcement of Opportunity for the scientific investigation of the new instruments GOME, ATSR-Visible Channels and PRARE onboard ERS-2 has resulted in the selection of a wide range of projects which will start to be implemented during the commissioning phase of the satellite, which is expected to last a total of six months.
The ERS-2 flight model in the Test Facility at ESTEC, Noordwjik (NL)
Metop-1
The Phase-A definition studies have continued during the reporting period. Work has been initiated to establish the Phase-B requirements, which are to be funded from the Metop Preparatory Programme.
Other studies
Industrial studies are in progress to assess the potential value of small satellites for Earth observation. Work also continues on the definition of a range of new instruments for future missions.
Campaigns
The agreed EMAC campaign activities have continued with further flight activities. Meanwhile, a new campaign called ELITE is in preparation to underfly the US LITE experiment (Lidar in Space T echnology Experiment), which should fly on the Space Shuttle in September.
Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)
The first checkpoint for the Phase-B system and subsystem design definition activities was passed successfully by Industry during the Preliminary Review.
Major subsystem 'Invitation to Tender' (ITT) packages have recently been issued to Industry,in an open competition to select subcontractors for detailed Phase-B engineering and design activities. The first proposals have already been received and are under evaluation.
Notification of interest from an Industrial Consortium, supported by a Prime Investigator, has been received for the manufacture and testing of a Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) Instrument. This Instrument will be considered for integration within MSG as an Announcement of Opportunity Package (AOP).
Metop
The Metop Preparatory Programme is now well underway. Industrial work to design and breadboard critical elements of the MIMR (Multifrequency Imaging Microwave Radiometer) and ASCAT (Advanced Scatterometer) instruments has commenced. Building on the results of the Phase-A industrial study conducted within the framework of the Earth-Observation Preparation Programme (EOPP), a satellite-system Phase-B is being prepared.
The selection of the final Metop satellite configuration, particularly the payload definition, is now maturing following deliberations within and between ESA and Eumetsat.
Systems
The Envisat Mission System Preliminary Design Review (EMS-PDR) has been completed with a Review Board meeting in the second half of July 1994. All elements of the Envisat-1 mission, including the Polar Platform, the payload instruments and the ground segment, have been reviewed together for the first time, showing good overall progress. Problems have been identified in some specific areas and the necessary remedial actions have been defined. The industrial consortia, led by BAe and Dornier, have been briefed on the main results of the Review.
Polar Platform
The Polar Platform activities are proceeding according to plan. Manufacture of the Service Module flight-model structure is well advanced and should be completed by end-1994. Integration of the flight model will start in early 1995. Availability of the Payload Module structural model has been delayed due to manufacturing difficulties. As part of the solar-array qualification programme, thermal-cycling testing of two qualification-model panels has taken place in the Large Solar Simulator at ESTEC (NL).
Following problems encountered during the life-testing of development models, redesign of the DRS Antenna Pointing Mechanism (APM) and Solar Array Drive Mechanism (SADM) is in progress and should be completed by the end of the year.
The Preliminary Launcher Coupled Dynamics Analysis of the Envisat-1 satellite with Ariane-5 has been completed. The separation shock test between the Polar Platform and Ariane-5 Launch Vehicle Adaptor will be carried out in September.
An Agency internal review of the PPF and Artemis programmes has confirmed the proper design of the PPF communications subsystem and the adequacy of the PPF link via the Data Relay Satellite.
Final negotiation of two major subcontracts has been completed, with Matra for the Service Module and Dornier for the Payload Equipment Bay. Final contract negotiations with BAe are now in progress. The contract with BAe for the complete PPF is expected to be signed by fall 1994.
Envisat-1
Instrument design and development activities are progressing well, with a number of bread-board activities nearing completion. Work on the engineering models of some instruments is already well advanced.
The commercial difficulties experienced with the MIPAS instrument have been settled with an industrial agreement on a different sharing of work and responsibilities. Attention is now focused on the MERIS instrument, where a number of difficult technical problems still exist. Different design solutions are being considered and traded-off.
On the ASAR instrument, the electrical design is progressing normally. Promising results with the second generation of active antenna modules have been obtained and the radiator design is being finalised. The structural design of the antenna and the detailed definition of the interface between the antenna and the Polar Platform are, however, a cause of concern, due mainly to a significant increase in the antenna's mass. Specific actions have been defined following the recommendations of the EMS-PDR Board. The detailed antenna design is expected to be finalised and frozen by end of December 1994.
Contract negotiations with a number of companies in the Envisat Consortium are expected to start in the near future.
Ground Segment
The two parallel contracts with Industry concerning the Envisat Ground Segment Consolidation Phase have been prepared and are ready for signature.
The IML-2 Spacelab mission took place from 8 to 23 July 1994. The Space Shuttle 'Columbia', carrying four ESA experiment facilities for investigations in life sciences, fluid physics and protein growth, was launched from Kennedy Space Center exactly on schedule, on 8 July 1994 at 12:43 a.m. local time. It landed again at KSC on 23 July 1994 at 06:38 a.m. This was the longest Shuttle mission flown so far and hence it allowed an extensive experimental programme to be undertaken.
The ESA experiment facilities were: the Biorack, flown for the third time, with 19 experiments in biology; the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit, flown for the first time, with 8 experiments for investigating fluid-physics phenomena; the Critical Point Facility, flown for the second time, with 5 experiments studying the behaviour of fluids around the critical-point temperature; and the Advanced Protein Crystallisation Facility (two units, one flown for the first time, the other for the second time) with 18 experiments, investigating protein growth under very controlled conditions. The ESA experiment facilities and almost all of the 50 experiments carried out during this mission performed extremely well.
An important aspect of the IML-2 mission was the remote operation (i.e. operations from sites other than the Payload Operations Control Center at NASA- MSFC) of several European experiment payload facilities from ESA and other space agency sites for the first time on such a large scale. This activity, financed by the Columbus Utilisation Preparation Programme, was introduced rather late in the ground operations scheme for the mission, but turned out to be very useful.
The experiment hardware for the physiological and material-science experiments to be conducted on Euromir'94 was delivered and transported to the Mir Space Station by the `Progress' vehicle on 25 August. A parabolic-flight campaign in support of these experiments had been performed in July. The remaining preparations for the Euromir'94 mission in October are well underway.
Columbus Orbital Facilities (COF)
Industry's primary efforts have been focused on continued technical definition of the COF `design-to-cost' configuration option. Key configuration features of this option, which is aimed at achieving the lowest possible COF development costs, are:
At its meeting on 12 July, the Space Station Control Board (SSCB) approved changes to the ISS Assembly Sequence, as proposed by NASA. This was the first SSCB meeting in which RKA participated as a full member of the Board. Key changes introduced into the assembly sequence by this SSCB approval are:
Work has continued with NASA and the other International Partners on the preparation of Volume 3 of the Concept of Operations and Utilisation (COU) document, which covers implementation aspects of the operationsand utilisation principles previously agreed and base-lined at the ISS System Design Review in COU Volume 1. Important implementation aspects covered in Volume 3 are the role of Ariane-5/ATV for the launch of the COF and the subsequent role of Ariane-5/ATV in the logistics support of ISS, and implementation aspects of the distributed operations concept for the COF.
Complementary Columbus Orbital Facilities (CCOF)
Declarationsfor CCOF: Early Delivery to ISS and COF Enhancements were approved by Council at its meeting on 19 July. These proposals cover the complete development and early delivery to ISS of the Columbus Mission Database, and laboratory support equipment (glovebox, freezer, and hexapod), plus industrial tasks in 1994/1995 on the Columbus Ground Software Reference Facility (GSRF), and on the DRS terminal for the COF.
Council was also briefed on the successful outcome of the recent technical discussions with NASA and RKA-NPO Energia on ESA's Service Module proposal. A Resolution was unanimously approved by Council requiring ESA to submit Programme proposals to the Manned Space Programme Board in September for development and early delivery of DMSR for the Russian Service Module and for development and early delivery of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) for the ASI/Alenia Mini Pressurised Logistics Module (MPLM).
System
The latest work on the launcher's upper section (Vehicle Equipment Bay, L9 stage, Speltra and fairing) started with electrical compatibility tests and will continue until February 1995 with testing of resistance to the acoustic environment and the pyrotechnic shocks generated by the various structures' cutting systems.
Fairing qualification testing is now at an advanced stage, with the acoustic test now completed and the final separation test on both halvesof the shell planned for November. VEB qualification testing is underway and proceeding on schedule.
The M3 firing test on 20 June in Kourou, French Guiana
L9 stage
The L9 development stage has been integrated on the test stand at Lampoldshausen and the results of the first two short-duration tests were as predicted. The first of two firing tests of nominal duration (1130 s) was performed in October.
The first of the four Aestus qualification enginesis undergoing final integration. Testing will therefore start in late October and be completed in January 1995.
The formal qualification tests are to be carried out before mid-1995.
H155 stage
The campaign of tests on the h355 battleship stage test stand started in early September and is continuing in October with two long-duration tests.
All ELA-3 fluid and electrical circuits are being validated in the process. Production of stage elements for the first Ariane-5 flight is proceeding on schedule; for example, the forward skirt and thrust frame have been delivered and LOX/LH 2 tank welding has been completed.
The scheduled testing of the Vulcain engine was slowed by an incident during which a test cell was damaged; it has now been repaired. By late September, the engine had undergone 191 tests involving a cumulative running time of over 48 400 s. Integration of the 501 flight engine is also underway.
P230 stage
The M3 firing was carried out in French Guiana on 20 June. This was the third full-scale firing. The M3 booster was in its flight configuration, in terms of structures, nozzle, actuator unit and also performance levels.
The next M4 and M5 firings are planned for late September and December, respectively, enabling formal P230 stage qualification testing to start in the first quarter of 1995.
Operational launches
After a four-month halt due to the Flight 63 incident, Ariane-4 launches resumed at an accelerated pace with Flight 64 on 17 June using an Ariane 44LP (the version with two liquid- and two solid-propellant boosters). This was followed by Flight 65 on 8 July using an Ariane 44L (four liquid-propellant boosters), Flight 66 on 10 August again used the 44LP version and most recently Flight 67 on 9 September was a 42L (two liquid-propellant boosters).
In all, six telecommunications satellites and two small (about 50 kg) science satellites have been placed into very precise geostationary transfer orbits since flights resumed in June.
Arianespace envisages a somewhat higher launch rate of 10-12 launches per year over the next two years.
Technology
Preparation of the technology activities, adjusted to the needs of the ATV and CTV vehicles (see below) has progressed and industrial work will start shortly. The technology programme includes an Atmospheric Re-entry Demonstrator (ARD), the feasibility of which has now been sufficiently established. As this capsule has been conceived as an APEX passenger for Ariane flight V502, the planning constraints are critical.
System studies
System studies that are in progress address the operation and utilisation of the MSTP elements in the Space Station scenario, and the determination of environmental re-entry constraints.
In the context of merging the Columbus and MST Programmes, in-house activities are concentrated on the harmonisation of the respective ground segments. Sizeable cost savings will be derived from the common infrastructure and procedures.
Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV)
The Phase-0 industrial studies have been finalised. Both contractors proposed four system concepts, responding to four sets of system requirements, and redesigns for the associated vehicles. From the system concepts that best fit with the European development capability and could potentially respond to ISSA servicing and rescue needs, two were selected for Phase-A study: a simple capsule nominally landing in water, with a logistics carrier as growth potential, and a bi-conic vehicle nominally landing on the ground. An agreement with NASA is currently being prepared regarding CTV missions to the International Space Station.
Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV)
The Phase-A extension studies have been completed. Apart from a joint evaluation with NASA, ACRV activities will be discontinued. Crew-return aspects are now being dealt with within the framework of the CTV studies.
Servicing elements ERA and EVA
Following the redefinition of the Space Station assembly sequence, in particular the Russian Segment elements, ERA activities are being realigned to correspond to an early-delivery in-orbit date of February 1999. The ERA System Requirements Review has been successfully completed and the industrial proposal for full development and initial operations is in progress.
Following the achievement of an ESA/RSA/NASA agreement on European participation in space-suit development for the Space Station, the EVA Suit 2000 Programme Proposal has been submitted to the Manned Space Programme Board and to the ESA Council. Unfortunately, at the time of writing (early September) the Member States cannot fund completion of this joint ESA/RSA development, and preparations for project closeout have therefore been initiated.
Automated Rendezvous Predevelopment (ARP)
The previous Automated Rendezvous and Capture Programme (ARP) has been redefined following the non-availability of the NASA Shuttle flight planned in the ARC context. This redefinition led to the setting-up of the 'ATV Rendezvous Predevelopment (ARP) Programme' dedicated to technology activities linked directly to the ATV Space Station Rendezvous verification. Requests for proposals concerning GPS Receiver Procurement, Rendezvous Sensor Predevelopment and Rendezvous System Activities (including demonstration flights aboard the Space Shuttle) have been prepared and sent to Industry.
Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)
The ATV Phase-B contract was 'kicked-off' in July 1994, and will last until the end of 1995. Definition of the ARC servicing missions to the Space Station has been improved through discussions with NASA and with support from Russian industry, the ATV being now considered in the studies related to the Space Station operation and utilisation plans. The next milestone is the ATV System Concept and Programmatic Review (SCPR) due to take place in November 1994.
ESA Bulletin Nr. 80.