Production

Our production programme is exclusively focused on components for the space industry.

SPACE PROGRAMME

PRODUCTION PROCESS

CONTACTS

What we do

Manufacturing process

Water jet cutting

Water jet cutting is a machine method of cutting materials using a concentrated stream of water under high pressure.

CNC machining and assembly

Production of high-precision parts on five-axis DMG Mori machining centres with a spindle speed of up to 18,000 rpm.

Manual completion of final assemblies

Production for the space industry requires specific technical skills and places high demands on accuracy and quality of work.

ATC SPACE s.r.o.

ATC SPACE s.r.o. participates in the production of the new generation of the European rocket Ariane 6. We supply parts and assemblies of aluminium alloys for the launch vehicle and its booster engines.

About the company

The ATC Space production plant is divided into three main parts. The first is used primarily for the storage and preparation of material, the second for machining and the third for assembly. The storage hall is used for several operations – receipt of material, input and output inspection and dispatch of goods. It also contains water jet cutting equipment, which divides large aluminium plates into shapes required for further machining.

Each supplied aluminium plate has its own serial number and the appropriate certificate of origin of the material. The certificate states the detailed chemical composition from the analysis of the alloy used. Every product must have a documented history from the basic material to the final part or product. Determining what material the part was made of, when it was made, who made it and what production operations the part went through permeates the entire production.

The cut aluminium plates are moved to the milling hall, where they are milled into the shapes and forms of the final products. Machining is performed by three large DMG Mori milling machines. The surface of the milled part is then deburred. After this mechanical cleaning, the products are inspected and accurately measured.

Subsequently, the products are sent to non-destructive testing and electrochemical surface treatment, so-called anodizing. The aluminium surface is coated with an even, compact oxide layer, which is significantly harder and more chemically resistant than the metal itself. A portion of the milled parts is then shipped to the customer, who assembles them into segments of the main rocket Ariane 6, while the remaining parts are assembled into skirts at ATC Space.

In the assembly hall, there are two separate assembly stations for forward skirts and for rear skirts. In the middle is a drilling robot that works for both stations. This robot drills high-precision holes in structures with a material thickness of up to 60 millimetres. The following assembly operations are performed manually. Flanges with a diameter of 3.5 metres are gradually fitted with individual parts connected by splice plates. The base frame is fitted with outer panels previously drilled by the robot, which are fastened by riveting.

To safely and reliably transport the assembled segments abroad, we use unique containers custom-made for ATC Space, which are placed on an atypical, tailor-made semi-trailer. Individual milled parts and assembled segments are sent to the customer, MT Aerospace in Augsburg.

Machinery