Session
Technical Session I: Production
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
The trend towards (mega) constellations among small satellites is unbroken. Instead of yesterday's satellites that were often not much more than prototypes the new space business models require a nothing less than a change of how satellites are being produced. The situation is thus not unlike those of the car industry in the early 20th century. Berlin Space Technologies (Germany), a global leader in small satellite systems has teamed up with Azista Industries (India) to build a factory to mass manufacture small satellites in the range of 50-150kg in India. The Joint venture is currently building a pioneer facility that has an annual production capability of up to 250 satellites. Due to the highly parallelized approach the facility can easily be extended to cover annual production rates of more than 1000 satellites a year. The factory is placed in Ahmedabad close to ISROs Space Application Centre / SAC (3.5 miles) and offers 50,000 square feet floor space. The brick works have been finished in 2018 and currently the interior furnishing of the clean rooms is underway. The first satellite will be assembled in the factory in late 2019. After that the production capability will be increased to reach the target production rate end of 2021.
Mass Manufacturing of Small Satellites, Gearing up for the Henry Ford Moment
Utah State University, Logan, UT
The trend towards (mega) constellations among small satellites is unbroken. Instead of yesterday's satellites that were often not much more than prototypes the new space business models require a nothing less than a change of how satellites are being produced. The situation is thus not unlike those of the car industry in the early 20th century. Berlin Space Technologies (Germany), a global leader in small satellite systems has teamed up with Azista Industries (India) to build a factory to mass manufacture small satellites in the range of 50-150kg in India. The Joint venture is currently building a pioneer facility that has an annual production capability of up to 250 satellites. Due to the highly parallelized approach the facility can easily be extended to cover annual production rates of more than 1000 satellites a year. The factory is placed in Ahmedabad close to ISROs Space Application Centre / SAC (3.5 miles) and offers 50,000 square feet floor space. The brick works have been finished in 2018 and currently the interior furnishing of the clean rooms is underway. The first satellite will be assembled in the factory in late 2019. After that the production capability will be increased to reach the target production rate end of 2021.
