Thales Alenia Space’s Turin plant recently took a major step forward in the construction of the primary structure of the Axiom commercial space station’s first module.
The Manufacturing Readiness Review was completed on September 21, allowing the start of welding operations on the pressurized module cone panels, key parts in the pressurized section of the Axiom Hub 1.
Recommended AI: “Bitcoin Has No Intrinsic Value”. Then What Gives Bitcoin Value?
The actual welding operations kicked off just a few days ago, a major achievement for Thales Alenia Space since it marked the first use of the friction stir welding process in Europe to construct such a large pressurized module!
The welding of the pressurized module cone panels is the first step in the primary structure assembly process, leading to the production of a windowed pressurized module approximately 11 meters long and 4.2 meters in diameter at the widest part. By applying this lower-temp welding process to such large modules, we can improve their reliability and mechanical properties in relation to the previous plasma welding method used on comparably sized habitation modules (e.g., nodes on the ISS, Columbus, MPLM).
Recommended AI: Top 10 Countries and Cities by Number of CCTV Cameras
Thales Alenia Space called on the expertise built up over the last 40 years in building similar orbital infrastructures to implement this new technique. Engineers were able to identify the best technical solutions during the detailed design process, thus shortening the procurement and design phases. In fact, welding operations are already underway just 14 months after program launch.
The primary structure passed its Preliminary Design Review and Critical Design Review in conjunction with Axiom Space and NASA. After completion of primary structure component manufacture in Q2 2022, initial integration and testing operations will get underway for delivery of the first habitation module to Houston by early 2023, where Axiom will assemble, outfit, integrate, and prepare the complete spacecraft for launch.
Recommended AI: How is Artificial Intelligence (AI) Changing the Future of Architecture?
[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
Comments are closed.