Night sky over a city with airplane and astronaut

Aerospace

FROM DEVELOPMENT TO SERIES TESTING

S.E.A. – the right partner for you

Both company founders began their technical and scientific careers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR).

Many years of project management and scientific as well as technical co-development in space missions established a solid know-how for the special requirements in this industry.

As a spin-off from DLR in 1995, one of S.E.A.’s fields of work continues to be in the aerospace sector. In cooperation with DLR and other companies we realize customer specific projects and software solutions.

 

Monitoring regulations Space travel

Aerospace with strict regulations

Aviation, with its strict regulations, demands stringent compliance with rules and regulations, both in the development of components and in final series testing. Series production is also playing an increasingly important role in aerospace, for example in the context of the Ariane rocket engine test stands. In addition, there are more challenging requirements:

  • Space missions with very long runtimes require software that is maintained over decades.
  • 100% testing of propulsion systems, even for unmanned missions, is critical. The rocket’s payload is usually irreplaceable.
  • Telemetry and telecommand between ground station and the object in space.
  • All in all, aerospace is a wide field of application for special measurement technology exactly for the one specific purpose under defined environmental conditions.

Our services for the aerospace sector

S.E.A. is an established supplier:

  • for the laboratory environment
  • for integration
  • for test bench control
  • in the development of aerospace hardware
  • for test definition and execution
  • of data management and data processing systems – for EGSE (Electrical Ground Support Equipment) as well as for your ground control center

We support you with:

  • the definition
  • the development
  • the integration
  • the maintenance

Selected project examples in the aerospace sector

  • Ariane rocket engine test stand

    Large test stands

    Large test stands play an essential role in the aerospace sector, as components are almost always subjected to 100% testing. This applies, for example, to Ariane engines in the space sector, but also to engines and auxiliary power units (APU) in commercial aviation. S.E.A. develops or modernizes test stands for aerospace engines and is an established supplier.

    Rocket engine test stand
  • Aerospace wind tunnel with plane model

    Wind tunnels

    Wind tunnels are among the most demanding large-scale test stands – not only due to their own complexity, which is supposed to make it possible to test under almost realistic conditions, but also due to the requirements for the test itself, which is supposed to reflect conclusions about the quality of the test object on the one hand and its physical properties on the other hand. Here S.E.A. is your partner for the planning and modernization of your test stand.

    Windtunnel Control System – WTCS
  • Drawing of satellites in space

    Satellite integration, testing and mission support

    S.E.A. develops and builds space systems – from standard electrical equipment for ground support (EGSE) to complete hardware and software platforms.

    Contact
  • Space Flight Ground Control Center

    Ground control center

    A central component of a space mission is the ground control center. This is especially true for unmanned spaceflight, as control and steering take place on the basis of telemetry data. Our software product SpaceMaster offers a maximally flexible, expandable and portable solution here, which has already proven itself in the 12-year Rosetta mission.

    Contact
  • View from the helicopter: Polarstern on its journey through the sea ice

    Research missions

    The on-board measurement data acquisition system, which has already been in proven use for several years on board the polar aircraft Polar-5/Polar-6 under the extreme environmental conditions of polar research flights for atmospheric and climate research of the polar regions, was developed by S.E.A. and later adapted, for example, to the special requirements of the MOSAiC expedition.

    AWI
  • Supervision of parabolic flight experiments

    S.E.A. develops image processing software for the recording and evaluation of material science experiments under zero gravity conditions.

    Contact

You want to modernize an existing test stand with us or are planning a new test stand?

Quote from an American astronaut when asked by a journalist how he felt before launching into space:

I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of 2 million parts — all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract.

  • Attributed to John Glenn,
  • NASA
  • This is how we work together,
    when you choose us:

    Flexible

    In addition to some concepts and solutions for the aerospace sector (SpaceMaster, TestMaster, rocket test stand), S.E.A. also offers customized software and hardware special solutions, which are precisely coordinated with the customer and adapted to his requirements.

    Customer-oriented

    is the regular, systematic identification and analysis of the wishes, requirements and expectations of customers and their implementation in products, services and processes.
    We understand your requirements, advise you and support you in every phase of the project.

    Service

    The maintenance of your software and hardware is important to us. But even more complex tasks are in good hands with us. In mission operations, we can support you with specialist personnel for the maintenance and repair of our deliveries and thus contribute to your success.

    Technical competence

    As a former spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), one of S.E.A.’s fields of work is in the aerospace sector. In cooperation with DLR, but also with other companies, we have realized numerous projects and software solutions.

    Examples of our project participation

    German Aerospace Center (DLR – Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt)

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    Data processing and evaluation

    The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 was on a sample return mission to the asteroid (162173) Ryugu (formerly 1999 JU3) since December 3, 2014. On board was the MASCOT lander. It was built under the leadership of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in close collaboration with the French space agency CNES and the Japanese space agency JAXA. At 3:58 a.m. (CEST) on October 3, 2018, MASCOT separated from the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 and touched down on Ryugu 20 minutes later. MASCOT operated for over 17 hours, collecting data from the asteroid surface.

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    Rocket test stand

    At the new P5.2 test stand, a rocket upper stage underwent a test program over several months to qualify for the planned flight in 2022. DLR designed and built the P5.2 test stand specifically to test the upper stage of Ariane 6. The upper stage consists of the Vinci engine, which can be ignited several times, the tanks for liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, and the electronic and hydraulic control systems.

    read more…

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    Microgravity experiments – recording and evaluation software

    Weightlessness or microgravity is an invaluable tool for numerous scientific disciplines. It enables the study of phenomena that are affected by gravity or undetectable on Earth. Flights in zero gravity aboard the Airbus A310 ZERO-G can provide new insights in almost every field of science. The Airbus A310 ZERO-G is a flying laboratory used by multidisciplinary and multinational teams.

    Asteriod lander Mascot on Hayabusa2

    Data processing and evaluation was performed by the S.E.A. SpaceMaster, which was operated at the Ground Control Center at DLR Cologne.

    The S.E.A. SpaceMaster is a so-called TM/TC system, also known as a check-out system. TM stands for telemetry and includes the processing and visualization of data. The data will be transmitted from the lander to the ground station via the spacecraft. TC stands for telecommand and refers to commands sent to the spacecraft and executed on the comet by the asteroid lander.

    Space technician in protective clothing in front of space electronics MASCOT
    Space technician in protective clothing in front of space electronics MASCOT

    Selected customers from the aerospace sector

    Contact form

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