Launch!
The $1 billion Metop-C polar-orbiting weather satellite was launched at 00:47 (UTC) on 7 November 2018. Metop-C is the third and last satellite of the Metop series produced by the European Space Agency. It forms the space segment of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS).
The Metop satellites have nine main instrumentsand fly in a sun-synchronous “mid-morning” polar orbit at an altitude of 817km, which enables global observations of weather, atmospheric composition, ocean and land surfaces. When Metop-C is commissioned, EUMETSAT will simultaneously operate three Metop satellites equally spaced around their orbit about 120° apart.
The solar array deployment systems for the three Metop satellites were designed and developed by Professor Stuart Burgess from the department of Mechanical Engineering. The deployment systems consist of a robotic arm about 4m in length with three deployment hinges. Each deployment hinge contains a unique worm gearbox – called a double action worm gearset – which was designed and patented by professor Burgess. The gearbox was designed using a “backwards design process” developed at the University of Bristol[1]. The gearbox is multi-functioning and can perform the three functions of worm gear, rack-pinion and screw-nut with one pair of gears.
One of the challenges for the solar array was accommodating around 300 power cables along the deployment arm. There was the danger that in extremely cold conditions the cables could hinder the deployment of the arm. It was necessary to use not just thermal blankets but heaters to keep the cables warm. In addition, the cables were configured with large loops to form a compliant structure.