[SatNews] Dutch Space has signed two large space contracts that are, together, worth more than 50 million euro.

For the supply of solar panels for 14 satellites of the European navigation system Galileo, Dutch Space signed an agreement amounting to more than 20 million euro with the German prime contractor OHB-System; as prime contractor of the Dutch space instrument TROPOMI, Dutch Space signed a contract worth more than 30 million euro with the European Space Agency (ESA) for development activities — this contract is a milestone in the completion of the TROPOMI instrument and comes over and above the Dutch government’s previously budgeted contribution to TROPOMI, a project being brought together with close collaboration between industry (Dutch Space, SME), knowledge institutes (TNO) and science (KNMI, SRON).

With the signing of the contract for the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), ESA has given the go-ahead for the manufacture of important components of the instrument, under the principle contractorship of Dutch Space. From space, TROPOMI will map the global air quality and the distribution of greenhouse gases. The Earth observation instrument will provide crucial data for monitoring air pollution and climate change on earth. TROPOMI is a successor to previously launched earth observation instruments, OMI on the NASA satellite EOS-AURA and SCIAMACHY on ESA satellite Envisat. The new instrument provides a technological jump forwards thanks to the high resolution and larger viewing angle.

For the 14 satellites from Galileo, Dutch Space will develop solar panels on behalf of the prime contractor OHB-System. The Galileo navigation system is being procured by ESA on behalf of the European Commission. Thanks to an optimal coverage and the use of new atomic clocks to more accurately determine the time, the satellite constellation will give a highly accurate positioning at any location in the world. The first two sets of solar panels will be delivered in December 2011, and then delivery will take place every three months until mid-2013. Each set of solar panels consists of two wings, and each wing has two panels with a surface area of 2.75 m2. Dutch Space previously delivered solar panels for GIOVE-A, one of the two test satellites, as well as for the first 4 satellites for the Galileo In-Orbit Validation phase. For the development of the Galileo solar panels, Dutch Space is working closely with Dutch SMEs; almost half of the project turnover is going to partners. For example, Airborne Composites is supplying the composite panels; Tecnovia and Brandt are providing the parts for the mechanisms, and Hymec the parts for the unfolding mechanism.