OHB Italia S.p.A. @ 47th AEROSPACE MECHANISMS SYMPOSIUM
At the Virginia Beach Convention Center, Matteo Spinelli, Head of Thermostructures of our Equipments Business Unit, presented an interesting paper on the Retention and Separation Subsystem of the LARES2 Mission.
The LARES2 (LAser RElativity Satellite 2) System, developed by OHB Italia, under the flag and the coordination of ASI-Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, was launched on 13th.07.2022 at 03.13 p.m. (CET time) from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana. It was the first passenger on the new ESA launcher VEGA C built by AVIO, on its maiden flight. After ten years from the launch of the first LARES, the same winning team has well performed again.
LARES2 is the main scientific payload, for which OHB Italia built the platform system and the release mechanisms which kept the LARES2 satellite locked in place during launch and released it once in orbit. Scope of the mission is to measure the Frame-Dragging effect, a distortion of space-time caused by the rotation of a massive body such as the Earth, as predicted by the General Relativity Theory.
The spherical passive satellite is made of high-density nickel alloy, on which 303 retroreflectors have been installed, making it a perfect reflecting target for the ILRS (International Laser Ranging Service). Thanks to the laser measurements, the satellite orbit will be tracked with great accuracy and will consent to verify certain relativistic laws theoretically predicted by Einstein, but also to perform measurements in the field of space geodesy.
OHB Italia at the Symposium, organized from the Mechanisms Education Association, was highlighted as a first-range “non-conventional space mechanisms” producer. A great opportunity to show our peculiar ability in the field of space equipment to several Space Agencies, to NASA and to the US Industry.
Well done Matteo!
