Already firmly established in the aircraft painting segment, Satys Aerospace is diversifying into the painting of satellite parts with a dedicated room that took two years to design and build.
Painting the deployable radiators of OneSat satellites
Satys Aerospace has just commissioned a room dedicated to the painting of satellite parts on its Blagnac site. As part of a partnership with Airbus, this site will paint the deployable radiators of the OneSat program, whose communication satellites will be put into service from geostationary orbit. “The painting of deployable satellite radiators complies with particularly demanding specifications”, explains Philippe Didier, program manager for this new activity. “The coatings used have thermo-optical properties linked to infrared emissivity. They must facilitate the absorption of sunlight and the dispersion of heat”, he specifies.
Specially qualified personnel
In view of the specific level of requirement for painting space applications, Satys Aerospace has specially qualified the personnel – painters, logisticians and controllers – assigned to this unit. The room is, for its part, equipped with an airlock to avoid any risk of contamination during the unpacking and packaging of the painted elements. The cost of this new equipment amounts to €1 million for Satys, which worked for two years in close collaboration with Airbus for the design and construction of this new production tool.
Partnership with Airbus to start
During the inauguration, Gregory Mayeur, CEO of Satys Aerospace, welcomed this new partnership sealed with Airbus: “We are very proud of the successful cooperation between our two teams. Technically, the painting business is very specific and despite our extensive experience in aeronautics, we have learned a lot with this new market of space applications through the high quality criteria it requires”. With this new industrial tool adapted to space applications, Satys Aerospace wishes to be able to enter into partnerships with other manufacturers in the future to meet their needs in terms of painting space equipment.
