The Spanish technology to separate the spaceship Al Amal from the Japanese H-IIA rocket was the last link in a chain of success

The Emirates' Martian sounder was placed in space thanks to a system manufactured in Madrid by Airbus Spain

photo_camera PHOTO/MBRSC - Constructed of carbon fiber, the PAS holds the satellite inside the rocket to prevent breakage or damage. Once the launcher has reached the expected height, it gently propels into space to position it in its correct orbit

With the first 30 days of the seven-month journey of the Emirates' Al Amal to Mars fast approaching, Atalayar has learned that technology made in Spain was crucial to the success of the mission.

Once the Martian probe reached space on board the Japanese H-IIA launcher from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), it was released from its carrier and placed in space thanks to a system designed, developed and manufactured at the Madrid headquarters of Airbus Space Systems Spain.

PHOTO/MBRSC-MHI - El director de sistemas espaciales de Mitsubishi, Naohiko Abe (derecha), ha felicitado a Airbus España por haber sido “un socio clave en el exitoso lanzamiento de Al Amal. En la imagen, junto a la ministra de Ciencias Avanzadas de Emiratos, Sarah AlAlmeeri

The correct separation of Al Amal from the so-called Payload Adapter and Separation or PAS - acronym for Payload Adapter and Separation System - manufactured in Spain took place approximately 57 minutes after take-off.​​​​​​​

The perfect performance of the PAS has earned the official recognition of MHI's top management embodied by the director of space systems, Naohiko Abe. In an official letter of appreciation, he congratulated the Spanish company and its technicians for having been "a key partner in the successful launch of the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) spacecraft on Sunday, July 19, 2020.

PHOTO/MBRSC - La función última del PAS de Al Amal ha consistido en depositarlo en su órbita correcta para que inicie su navegación en solitario con destino Marte

Airbus Space Systems España is the only non-Japanese company supplying space systems to MHI for its H-IIA launcher, after winning an international competition in 2013 in which the most important European, Asian and North American manufacturers participated.

What is PAS for?

The importance of the PAS lies in the fact that it is the umbilical cord that facilitates the interconnection of the spacecraft with the rocket during its ascent flight, and that it provides the controllers on the ground with the vital signs of its condition while the rocket is on the launch pad.

PHOTO/AP - Los técnicos de Airbus España han trabajado durante más de tres años con los ingenieros de MHI en Nagoya, del Centro Espacial Mohammed Bin Rashid de Dubái en Emiratos y del Laboratorio de Física Atmósfera y Espacial de Boulder (Estados Unidos) para asegurar el éxito de la misión

It is made of carbon fibre and has the shape of a cone trunk. It holds the satellite inside the rocket to avoid breakage or damage to any of its parts due to the enormous vibrations that occur during the first moments of take-off and the rest of the upward trajectory.

Once the launcher has reached the planned height and orbit and the cap that protects the satellite has been detached and is left in space - and burns on re-entry into the atmosphere - the PAS mission is to gently propel the satellite into space to position it in its correct orbit or, as in the case of Al Amal, to start its solo navigation to Mars.  

PHOTO/CATEC - El equipo de técnicos de Airbus Space Systems España y del Centro Avanzado de Tecnologías Aeroespaciales (CATEC) de Sevilla que han hecho realidad el nuevo sistema de separación de bajo choque del PAS fabricado con tecnología 3D en aleación de titanio de alta resistencia.

To decouple the spacecraft from its attachment to the PAS, it has an advanced, lightweight, low-shock separation system manufactured with 3D technology, which is the result of a joint R&D project between Airbus Space Systems España and the Centro Avanzado de Tecnologías Aeroespaciales (CATEC) in Seville. In its latest version, it is a high-strength titanium alloy. 

In order to make the PAS for Al Amal -whose meaning in Spanish is "Hope"- a reality, Airbus España technicians from the Barajas plant -near Madrid-, have been working for more than three years in close collaboration with MHI's aerospace systems factory in Nagoya -220 kilometers southwest of Tokyo-, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the Boulder Atmospheric and Space Physics Laboratory in Colorado, where the spacecraft was built.

Three Spaniards at the Tanegashima Space Center

For the program manager at Airbus Space Systems in Madrid, Jesús Trigo, the PAS manufactured according to Al Amal requirements has represented "a real challenge for the team". The main reasons were the "new" working conditions that prevailed in the Barajas factory during the COVID-19 pandemic and the "exceptional" security measures against coronavirus infection applied by the Japanese health authorities for the delivery of the system in the Tanegashima Space Center.

PHOTO/MBRSC - Con forma de tronco cono, el PAS (de color gris en la imagen) es el cordón umbilical que permite la interconexión de la astronave con el cohete durante su vuelo de ascenso. También facilita a los controladores en tierra las constantes vitales de su estado mientras el cohete está en la rampa de despegue

Finally, to materialize the delivery to MHI of the cargo adapter and the separation system and to collaborate in the fixation of Al Amal, three Spanish technicians from Airbus Spain went to Japan at the end of June. As confirmed by Alejandro Duran, Operations Manager of the project, the three had to obtain "special permits" from the Japanese authorities and, once on Japanese soil, "spend 14 days in total isolation". 

For Fernando Varela, general manager of Airbus Space Systems Spain and the staff involved in the project, the mission had an additional requirement and had to be successful. On the one hand, the loss of the launch window would have meant that the mission would have had to be postponed for a minimum of two years, until the alignment conditions between Earth and Mars were once again favourable. On the other hand, the system "had to work perfectly" for the Spanish PAS to continue enjoying the confidence they already have among all the launcher manufacturers in the world.

PHOTO/MHI - Airbus Space Systems España es la única empresa no japonesa que suministra sistemas espaciales a MHI para su lanzador H-IIA. Fue la empresa ganadora de un concurso internacional en el que participaron los más importantes fabricantes europeos, asiáticos y norteamericanos

The PAS model 1194 used to position the Al Amal in space and to launch it to Mars is the third in a package of eight contracted by MHI from Airbus España's Madrid factory to equip its H-IIA launchers. 

It is part of the space company's ongoing export programme of payload adapters and separation systems to provide products and services worldwide. Among the rockets that use Spanish technology are, for example, the European Ariane 5 and Vega rockets marketed by the company Arianespace and the North American Falcon 9 by Saces and Atlas 5 by Locke Martin.

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