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ESA · Earth Observation · 2018

Earth-ObservationPlatform

Structures and thermal hardware for an environmental monitoring platform, delivered through Beyond Gravity for ESA.

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01 STRUCTURAL BUS
02 PAYLOAD MODULE
03 SOLAR ARRAYS
04 ANTENNA & DEPLOY
05 FLIGHT-QUALIFIED
PHASE 01

Structural Bus

Machined composite panels bonded into the primary load-bearing frame.

PHASE 02

Payload Module

The imaging instrument and optical bench mate to the bus interface ring.

PHASE 03

Solar Arrays

Twin deployable wings fold out and lock—2.6 kW at beginning of life.

PHASE 04

Antenna & Deploy

High-gain dish and feed assembly complete the downlink chain.

PHASE 05

Flight-Qualified

Fully integrated, tested, and cleared for launch.

1,140kg
LAUNCH MASS
11.4m
DEPLOYED SPAN
2.6kW
POWER (BOL)
7yr
DESIGN LIFE

Built to a tenth of a millimetre.

THE PROGRAMME

Earth-observation satellites monitor crops, ice, shipping and atmospheric composition, and are expected to do it continuously for a decade from a platform that gets one launch and no service visits. Beyond Gravity is a recurring supplier of structures, thermal protection and precision positioning hardware across Europe's Copernicus programme.

THE ROLE

I ran the commercial interface: understanding what the agency needed, getting the right technical people into the right conversations, and managing procurement through to contract. The engineering sat with Beyond Gravity's structures and thermal teams.

WHY ESA IS ITS OWN DISCIPLINE

ESA's geographic return principle shapes who can bid before technical merit is discussed, and requirements flow through formal ECSS milestones. Understanding that structure early positions a supplier very differently.

PROGRAM PARTNERS
ESA
Prime customer
Beyond Gravity
Structures & integration
Prime Contractor
Spacecraft bus
Launch Provider
LEO injection
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