Raumfahrt: Zertifizierte Zuverlässigkeit für Ihre Mission

ESCC evaluation and qualification of AVIM SINGLE POINT OPTICAL CONNECTORS (Contract No: PR-ESA-3-12750)

Short description:
The present proposal replies to European Space Agency (ESA) Request for Quotation 3-12750/09/NL/PA and is devoted to proposing the tasks necessary to qualify the AVIM optical fiber connector The activity described in the present proposal is based on the requirements of ESA Statement.

Project objectives:
The scope of the project is to evaluate the optical fiber connector market for space, propose a product that will be evaluated and then qualified for space application under ESCC standards, to be written and proposed at the end of the project.
Two connector set were considered, AVIM and Mini-AVIM using a Polarization maintaining fiber and a PEEK loose tube.

Features:
Connector set should be qualified, but during the project, a clear relation of performance with fiber and cable extended the project to add a complete assembly configuration to be qualified.

Project plan:
After a market study and test study, an Evaluation Test Procedure, ETP was proposed and implemented. Results were published and presented during ICSO2012 conference.
Qualification test procedure was inferred from ETP and Qualification lot produced and qualified.

Expected main benefits:
By establishing standards for testing fiber optic passive assemblies composed of connector sets, fibers and cable, future applications, increasing in the space area, will be easier, less costly than full blown qualification for each project and knowledge based increased in this area for the European space community.

Status:
The project has been closed as of september 2013 and Qualification Test Report (QTR) for the AVIM and Mini-AVIM are available. The standards are being elaborated by ESA and recent modification brought to add fiber and cable to the connector set qualification explaining the delay in publication of these standards. Only upon publication of these standards will AVIM and Mini-AVIM have the possibility to be integrated in ESA Qualified Part List (QPL). In the mean time, Diamond QTR 064 and QTR 065 are representative of the qualification for both connectors.