Spectrum Astro's Factory of the Future Goes Operational

SPACEMART

illustration only

Gilbert - Feb 20, 2004
Spectrum Astro, a leader in the design and manufacture of high performance satellites for space missions, announced today that its all-new satellite manufacturing and test facility is operational and ready for business. Called the "Factory of the Future," this state-of-the-art facility is designed to manufacture America's most important space missions cost-effectively, while minimizing risk during the production process.

W. David Thompson, President and CEO of Spectrum Astro, stated, "This new factory gives Spectrum Astro the facilities required to manufacture and test the largest satellites and to bring our proven efficiencies to all levels of space programs."

Located on an 80-acre site in Gilbert, Arizona less than two miles south of its corporate headquarters, Spectrum Astro's factory incorporates the latest technologies for the production of satellites.

The factory encompasses more than 135,000 square feet of assembly, integration, and test space that can accommodate the production of more than twenty satellites simultaneously.

The building consists of multiple clean room integration and test areas, including a 14,400 square foot assembly bay. In addition the factory contains world-class, leading edge testing facilities that simulate a variety of environmental conditions encountered in space.

These include an Acoustic and Vibration chamber that can test up to space shuttle-class satellites. Other test facilities include state-of-the-art, systems level thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC, static load, and modal test systems.

Spectrum Astro's new factory is designed to reduce the risks associated with the manufacturing of space vehicles. Assembly, integration, and test areas are located in the same building and on the same floor level.

Satellites can easily move from assembly bays to environmental test chambers using air- bearings or carts, reducing the handling and eliminating the need to ship satellites to alternate facilities to test. The arrangement of the test facilities with the integration bays also enhances productivity and reduces cycle time for satellite integration and test.

The "Factory of the Future" is loaded with efficiencies designed to lower the cost of satellite production. It utilizes an integrated building control and management system that manages lighting and HVAC functions throughout.

This system monitors and trends critical systems allowing maintenance to be predictive instead of preventative, reducing maintenance and repair cost. All motor drive systems from compressors to air handlers are on Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) which allows these systems to use only the utility required to meet the load being used, eliminating wasted energy cost.

The building uses a large chiller system with a VFD drive and a plate-in-frame heat exchanger that takes advantage of low cost evaporative cooling. All lighting is high efficiency lighting with various lighting level options reducing lighting operational cost.

All areas of the factory have efficiency designed into them from the roofing material to the layout of the bays. The general contractor for the project is Joe E. Woods, Inc. and the architect is Deutsch Associates.

Spectrum Astro is currently involved with several government projects intended to enhance national security, civil and space programs. The company is the prime contractor for NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) and Swift satellite programs and the Department of Defense Space Test Program's Coriolis and Communication/ Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellites.

In addition, Spectrum Astro is a major subcontractor on the Northrop Grumman industry team for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) for the Missile Defense Agency and is also on Lockheed Martin's industry team competing to design and build the next generation of Global Positioning System satellites called GPS III.

SPACEMART

Intelsat and Telespazio Bring GSM Service to Cruise Ship Passengers

Washington - Feb 19, 2004
Intelsat today announced a five-year contract with Telespazio to provide satellite capacity for cellular telephone services that Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) will make available to passengers traveling on Costa Crociere cruise ships in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Caribbean and South American regions.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.