Sep 14, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

IberEspacio Delivers the Primary Structure of The SpaceIL Lunar Mission

The Israeli SpaceIL team is one of five participants in the Google Lunar XPRIZE contest which will be won by the first contestant to reach the moon without governmental funding. IberEspacio has contributed to this mission by supplying the primary structure, the skeleton of the spacecraft, which has already been delivered to the SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), responsible for the construction of the spacecraft.

IberEspacio’s participation worked for a year to produce the upper and lower panels, which will contain the propulsion system and all the electronic equipment, as well as the docking ring with the rocket launcher. All of the work was carried out in Spain, except for the carbon fiber struts, supplied by a Danish company.

Dr. Eran Privman, SpaceIL CEO: “We are pleased to cooperate with the professional team at IberEspacio. Having the spacecraft structure enables us to start the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) process at IAI facilities”.

Opher Doron, IAI's Space Division General Manager: "IAI, the Space House of Israel, is honored to be part of the SpaceIL team, an educational and technological initiative that represents the best of Israel's technology. We are proud to take part and support this important project with IAI's best engineering minds, which combine all the technological and engineering know-how required to build such a complex space craft"

For IberEspacio’s General Manager, Dr. Alejandro Torres, "participating in a pioneering and ambitious mission like SpaceIL by providing a key element like the primary structure is a source of pride for our company. Furthermore, we are contributing in a very special way, ensuring that Spanish technology continues to transcend borders by developing equipment in Spain that will land on the moon. For all this we are very grateful to SpaceIL and IAI for the trust they have placed in us."

The structure manufactured by IberEspacio must guarantee the integrity of the spacecraft in spite of the strong vibrations that will affect it during launch and the impact that it may suffer on landing. The whole structure weighs less than 25 kilograms, which meet the demanding weight requirement.

The teams responsible for SpaceIL and IAI can now start the assembly and integration phase, which starts with a special cleaning of the structure at high temperatures (“baking”). After they will finish, they will assemble the vehicle, install the equipment in it, and test the entire system to confirm that everything works perfectly before it is launched to the moon next year.

Images

1. SpaceIL Primary Structure at IberEspacio Facilites previously to deliver to SpaceIL and IAI teams: http://iberespacio.es/img/IberEspacio_Spaceil_01.jpg

2. IberEspacio staff workgin on SpaceIL Primary Structure previously to delivery to SpaceIL and IAI teams: http://iberespacio.es/img/IberEspacio_Spaceil_02.jpg