Paris, 6 March 2019. Expleo, the technology partner for innovative companies, is part of the OneWeb project, whose inaugural mission launched on Wednesday 27th February from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. This project aims to deploy a constellation of 900 satellites to deliver affordable internet access globally.
Expleo has been a OneWeb project partner since its inception in 2015. The Group was selected by Airbus OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture between OneWeb and Airbus, to develop two types of test facilities. Tests used to validate the motors that deploy the solar panels and the antennas; and tests used to communicate with the satellite’s data bus.
At the end of 2016, Expleo was also asked to manage the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) at the Airbus OneWeb Satellites facility in Toulouse.
Expleo’s involvement has focused on the integration and qualification of the various avionics and radio frequency subsystems for the first Airbus OneWeb Satellites built in France. The rest of the satellites will be manufactured in Merritt Island, Florida. Expleo experts have provided satellite support services from the modelling stage, through integration and functional testing to environmental vibration, EMC and thermal vacuum testing. The work done at each of these stages has ensured the safety and security of the technical solutions and has qualified the satellites to be operational in their deployment environment.
Expleo has also been asked by OneWeb Satellite to provide AIT training for its Florida-based teams. The skills transfer and operational support services will be provided during the production phase in the USA. Lastly, a team of Expleo experts travelled to Kourou to be on hand for the inaugural launch and ensure the correct satellite operation after launch vehicle loading.
OneWeb is part of a fundamental transformation of the space industry, which is seeing increased competition and rising volumes of production. Airbus OneWeb Satellites is disrupting satellite manufacturing by making spacecraft smaller and cheaper to launch. Its facility is set to deliver up to 15 satellites a week, thanks to fast, modular, low-cost and high-volume manufacturing.
Damien Lasou, Group Executive Vice President, Head of Aerospace and Defence at Expleo:
“There can be no doubt that OneWeb is a landmark project. In terms of its disruptive technology, of course, but also in its ambition to deliver affordable internet through space, across the world. Expleo is extremely proud to have been a partner in this project since Day 1 and to provide its expertise to contribute to the success of the OneWeb constellation”.
With more than 30 years’ space industry experience, Expleo provides public-sector and private-sector stakeholders in Europe and around the world with new product development support for satellites, nanosatellites, launchers, ground stations and other systems. Its expertise spans the full lifecycle, from design to manufacturing, including integration and testing, quality support and test facilities.
Download the press release in English, French and German
Media contacts
Expleo
Valentine Piedelievre-Eman
valentine.eman@expleogroup.com
+33 (0)6 07 27 68 55
L’été en hiver
Morgane Gens
morgane.gens@eteenhiver.com
+33 (0)6 88 63 34 30
About Expleo
Expleo is a trusted partner for end-to-end, integrated engineering, quality services and management consulting for digital transformation. We help businesses harness unrelenting technological change to successfully deliver innovations that will help them gain a competitive advantage and improve the everyday lives of people around the globe.
