Tesat Spacecom has been putting its trust in Ersa selective soldering technology for more than 20 years

Understandably, the requirements made on aerospace technology have always been extremely demanding – on account of radiation every single satellite component has to hold its ground for years under tough conditions in space. As a result, all the components undergo very extensive testing on the ground, where failures will lead to costs of a few hundred or 1,000 euros – but are comparatively easy to eliminate. This is different in space, where problems directly lead to immense cost explosions. With comparatively few possibilities of influencing anything. For this reason, an absolute zero defect rate applies to Tesat production including electronics manufacturing. This means right down to the tiniest of switches and connectors, and applies to each individual PCB as well of course. Even the tiniest of production faults can have fatal consequences and has to be avoided at all costs.

Tesat Spacecom’s vision is to be constantly exploring new paths, boldly and with a passion, looking for pioneering solutions that go beyond current standards – not only in terms of the final products but including development and production too. Thus Tesat Spacecom examines various production areas at regular intervals to see whether automation can be advanced in any way. In the 1990s they recognised early that it would be necessary to get as far away as possible from manufactory production methods in soldering in particular. The processes that were under consideration had to be made more independent and optimised – in terms of quality and speed as well as costs. “In 1998 Tesat Spacecom decided in favour of a VERSAFLOW 40/50 selective soldering system – this system, that Ersa had launched on the market only two years previously, was relatively unknown in the branch, but had those responsible at Tesat Spacecom completely convinced,” says Meinrad Eckert, who has been Area Sales Manager for Ersa for 35 years. And he goes on: “In addition, an infrared camera was installed in our first selective soldering system, which already registered the energy flows during soldering and established the thermal load on the components – including appropriate documentation, quite literally a real highlight.” Even if this option made up one third of the actual machine price, it was absolutely vital in order to prevent components intended for orbit becoming damaged during automatic soldering. “This initial worry was unfounded, however. In the meantime, our technicians for electronics manufacturing have the necessary experience and can say on the basis of microsections that the automated soldering spots are just as good or even better, and also have a lower thermal load,” says Helga Eich-Beetz, Team Leader Infrastructure at Tesat Spacecom. The documentation is important and necessary since it enables traceability down to the individual assembly. Otherwise things could get difficult, because Tesat provides a 15-year guarantee for its components and assemblies, which means all manufacturing protocols have to be stored for this long period.