Oerlikon AM/Airbus
The 3D-printed aluminium antenna cluster for next-generation communication satellites, made to orbit the earth.
Oerlikon AM and Airbus have signed a 3.8 million EUR contract for the additive manufacture of satellite antenna clusters.
These components will be used in a series of communication satellites that will soon be put into orbit.
Oerlikon AM and Airbus have worked together for ten years, with several components co-developed between the two firms already in orbit.
As part of this new contract, Oerlikon AM will 3D print aluminium antenna clusters that measure approximately 400 x 400 x 400 mm using laser powder bed fusion technology. With this process, the partners believe that production lead time for the antenna clusters could be reduced from six months to a few weeks. They also are said to have ‘fine-tuned’ the post-processing of the printed components to ensure the ‘best possible’ radio frequency performance, assembly and wire integration.
“To create a final product of excellent quality, technical cooperation and understanding each other’s needs and requirements is fundamental for a well-coordinated design and manufacturing process – not only in rapid prototyping, but even more so in serial production,” commented Michael Kilian, R&D Manager for Additive Manufacturing of RF Space Components, Airbus.
“The key success factor is the specific AM machine set-up, which allows the family of geometries to be reproduced with the required accuracy and the process to be indefinitely repeated,” offered Hendrik Alfter, Managing Director, Oerlikon AM. “Thus, we met the high accuracy and quality requirements of Airbus, and consequently the specified European Space Agency (ESA) standards for satellites. We are pleased that the cooperation has resulted in a 3.8 million EUR multi-year contract for the supply of antenna clusters.”
Oerlikon is a registered and qualified supplier to Airbus and passes audits annually. The company has also provided its additive manufacturing expertise to the likes of Boeing, Lufthansa Technik, and MT Aerospace.
