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Manufacture of the International Space Station

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Fabrication of the ISS elements
The Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center - the prime factory for the last stages of fabrication and processing of station components for launch

The project to create the International Space Station required the utilization and/or construction of new and existing manufacturing facilities around the world, mostly in the United States and Europe. The agencies overseeing the manufacturing involved NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, JAXA, and the Canadian Space Agency. Hundreds of contractors working for the five space agencies were assigned the task of fabricating the modules, trusses, experiments and other hardware elements for the station.

The fact that the project involved the co-operation of sixteen countries working together created engineering challenges that had to be overcome: most notably the differences in language, culture and politics, but also engineering processes, management, measuring standards and communication; to ensure that all elements connect together and function according to plan. The ISS agreement program also called for the station components to be made highly durable and versatile — as it is intended to be used by astronauts indefinitely. A series of new engineering and manufacturing processes and equipment were developed, and shipments of steel, aluminium alloys and other materials were needed for the construction of the space station components.

History and planning

The project began as Space Station Freedom, a US only effort, but was long delayed by funding and technical problems. Following the initial 1980's authorization (with an intended ten year construction period) by Ronald Reagan, the Station Freedom concept was designed and renamed in the 1990s to reduce costs and expand international involvement. In 1993, the United States and Russia agreed to merge their separate space station plans into a single facility integrating their respective modules and incorporating contributions from the European Space Agency and Japan. In later months, an international agreement board recruited several more space agencies and companies to collaborate to the project. The International Organization for Standardization played a crucial role in unifying and overcoming different engineering methods (such as measurements and units), languages, standards and techniques to ensure quality, engineering communication and logistical management across all manufacturing activities of the station components.

Engineering designs

Engineering diagrams of various elements of the ISS, with annotations of various parts and systems on each module.

Technical schematics

  • Technical blueprint of components Technical blueprint of components
  • Exploded view of truss sections Exploded view of truss sections
  • Z1 Truss design Z1 Truss design
  • S0 Truss design S0 Truss design
  • P1 / S1 Truss design P1 / S1 Truss design
  • P3/4 / S3/4 Truss design P3/4 / S3/4 Truss design
  • P5 / S5 Truss design P5 / S5 Truss design
  • P6 / S6 Truss design P6 / S6 Truss design
  • Radiator panels Radiator panels
  • External Stowage Platform 1 External Stowage Platform 1
  • Destiny lab Destiny lab
  • Quest airlock (plan view) Quest airlock (plan view)
  • Quest airlock (isometric view) Quest airlock (isometric view)
  • Node 1 Node 1
  • Node 2 Node 2
  • Cupola Cupola
  • Columbus Columbus
  • Pirs Pirs
  • Poisk Poisk
  • Rassvet Rassvet
  • Japanese Experiment Module Japanese Experiment Module
  • Typical ISS rack Typical ISS rack
  • Pressurized Mating Adapters Pressurized Mating Adapters
  • Zvezda Service Module Zvezda Service Module
  • Zarya FGB Zarya FGB

Manufacturing Information and Processes

List of factories and manufacturing processes used in the construction and fabrication of the International Space Station modular components:

Space Station component Overseeing agency and contractor(s) Manufacturing
facility 		Materials
used 		Manufacturing date Mass
(kg) 		Manufacturing Processes Factory view
Zarya (FGB) NASA, Roscosmos Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center 1994 19,323
Unity (Node 1), PMA-1 & PMA-2 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center June 6, 1997 11,612
Zvezda (Service Module) Roscosmos Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center February 1985 19,051
Z1 Truss & PMA-3 NASA Michoud Assembly Facility 1999 8,755 (Z1)
P6 Truss & Solar Arrays NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

Truss

Solar Arrays

1999/2000 15,824

Destiny (US Laboratory) NASA Marshall Space Flight Center December 12, 1997 14,515
External Stowage Platform-1 NASA
  • Airbus DS Space Systems
 Goddard Space Flight Center Steel 2000 5,760
Canadarm2 (SSRMS) Canadian Space Agency Titanium 2000/01 4,899
  • Seamless rolling
  • Milling
  • Robotic assembly

Quest (Joint Airlock) NASA Marshall Space Flight Center 2000 6,064
Pirs (Docking Compartment & Airlock) RKK Energia Korolyov, Moscow Oblast 1998 3,580
S0 Truss NASA Michoud Assembly Facility 1998/2000 13,970

Mobile Base System NASA Northrop Grumman factory in Carpinteria, CA 2001 1,450
S1 Truss and Radiators NASA Michoud Assembly Facility June 2002 14,120
P1 Truss and Radiators NASA Michoud Assembly Facility July 2002 13.748 same as S1 Truss
ESP-2 NASA
  • Airbus DS Space Systems
 Goddard Space Flight Center October 2005 2,676
P3/P4 Truss & Solar Arrays NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

Truss

Solar Arrays

2005/06 15,900

P5 Truss NASA Operations and Checkout Building Anodized steel February 2007 1,818
S3/S4 Truss & Solar Arrays NASA Michoud Assembly Facility Same as P3/P4 trusses May 12, 2005 15,900 Same as P3/P4 trusses
S5 Truss and ESP-3 NASA Operations and Checkout Building Steel (some anodized) 2007 13.795 Same as P5 and ESP-1 and 2

Harmony (Node 2)
Relocation of P6 Truss 		European Space Agency, Italian Space Agency Thales Alenia Space factory in Turin, Italy May 2003 14,288
Columbus (European Laboratory) European Space Agency European Space Research and Technology Centre April 2006 12,800
Dextre Canadian Space Agency MacDonald Dettwiler (now MDA Space Missions) factory in Brampton Ontario 2004 1,734
Japanese Logistics Module (ELM-PS) JAXA Tsukuba Space Center April 2, 2007 8,386
Japanese Pressurized Module (JEM-PM)
JEM Robotic Arm (JEM-RMS) 		JAXA (formerly NASDA) Tsukuba Space Center November 2005 15,900 (JEM-PM)

S6 Truss & Solar Arrays NASA Michoud Assembly Facility same as P4/S4 truss and solar arrays 2006/07 15,900 same as P4/S4 truss and solar arrays
Japanese Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) JAXA Tsukuba Space Center May 28, 2003 4,100
Poisk (MRM-2) Roscosmos Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center 2008/09 3,670 same as Pirs
ExPRESS Logistics Carriers 1 & 2 NASA All three contracting facilities 2008/09 6,277

Tranquility (Node 3) NASA, European Space Agency Cannes Mandelieu Space Center Stainless steel April 2005 12,247
Cupola NASA, European Space Agency 2003/07 1,800
Rassvet (MRM-1) Roscosmos, NASA Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center July 2009 5,075

Leonardo (PMM) Italian Space Agency, NASA Stainless steel 2000/01 9,896
EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 3 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 2010/11 6,637 Same as ELC 1 & 2
EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 4 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 2010/11 6,731 Same as ELC 1 & 2
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer CERN CERN, Geneva Switzerland August 2010 6,731 Spectrometer development and assembly

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module NASA Bigelow Aerospace factory in Las Vegas, Nevada March 12, 2015 3.2 Composite lamination
Nanoracks Bishop Airlock NanoRacks Thales Alenia Space factory

Space Station Processing Facility

2017-20 325 kg
Nauka (MLM)
European Robotic Arm 		Roscosmos Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center Same as Zarya 2005/18 20,300 Same as Zarya, with additions
Prichal Roscosmos Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center Same as Poisk 2017/20 3,890 Same as Poisk
Roll Out Solar Arrays NASA Deployable Space Systems, Inc. (DSSI) 2014-present 1,002

Decommissioned Components are shown in gray.

Transportation

The European Columbus module being unloaded from the Airbus Beluga at the Shuttle Landing Facility
Node 2 inside its transportation container on its way by road to the SSPF, past the Vehicle Assembly Building from the SLF runway

Once manufactured or fabricated sufficiently, most of the space station elements were transported by aircraft (usually the Airbus Beluga or the Antonov An-124) to the Kennedy Space Center Space Station Processing Facility for final manufacturing stages, checks and launch processing. Some elements arrived by ship at Port Canaveral.

Each module for aircraft transport was safely housed in a custom-designed shipping container with foam insulation and an outer shell of sheet metal, to protect it from damage and the elements. At their respective European, Russian and Japanese factories, the modules were transported to their nearest airport by road in their containers, loaded into the cargo aircraft and were flown to Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility for unloading and final transfers to the SSPF and or the Operations and Checkout Building in the KSC industrial area. The American and Canadian-built components such as the US lab, Node 1, Quest airlock, truss and solar array segments, and the Canadarm-2 were either flown by the Aero Spacelines Super Guppy to KSC, or transported by road and rail.

After final stages of manufacturing, systems testing and launch checkout, all ISS components are loaded into a payload transfer container in the shape of the Space Shuttle payload bay. This container safely carries the component in its launch configuration until it is hoisted vertically at the launch pad gantry for transfer to the Space Shuttle orbiter for launch and in-orbit assembly of the International Space Station.

  • Columbus entering the SSPF loading yard for launch processing Columbus entering the SSPF loading yard for launch processing
  • Airbus Beluga loading Airbus Beluga loading
  • Unloading the Columbus module in its container at the shuttle landing facility Unloading the Columbus module in its container at the shuttle landing facility
  • Transportation container Transportation container
  • Antonov An-124 arrives at KSC with the Kibo module from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan Antonov An-124 arrives at KSC with the Kibo module from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan
  • The Rassvet module in its container at KSC being unloaded from the Antonov 124 inbound from Khrunichev The Rassvet module in its container at KSC being unloaded from the Antonov 124 inbound from Khrunichev
  • Node 3 being hoisted by cranes before loading onto truck Node 3 being hoisted by cranes before loading onto truck
  • ISS payload transfer container ISS payload transfer container
  • The US laboratory module being moved vertically from the payload transfer container to the Space Shuttle orbiter inside its installation structure The US laboratory module being moved vertically from the payload transfer container to the Space Shuttle orbiter inside its installation structure

Pre-launch processing and last stages of manufacturing

With the exception of all but one Russian-built module — Rassvet, all ISS components end up here at either one or both of these buildings at Kennedy Space Center.

Space Station Processing Facility

At the SSPF, ISS modules, trusses and solar arrays are prepped and made ready for launch. In this iconic building are two large 100,000 class clean work environment areas. Workers and engineers wear full non-contaminant clothing while working. Modules receive cleaning and polishing, and some areas are temporarily disassembled for the installation of cables, electrical systems and plumbing. Steel truss parts and module panels are assembled together with screws, bolts and connectors, some with insulation. In another area, shipments of spare materials are available for installation. International Standard Payload Rack frames are assembled and welded together, allowing the installation of instruments, machines and science experiment boxes to be fitted. Once racks are fully assembled, they are hoisted by a special manually operated robotic crane and carefully maneuvered into place inside the space station modules. Each rack weighs from 700 to 1,100 kg, and connect inside the module on special mounts with screws and latches.

Cargo bags for MPLM modules were filled with their cargo such as food packages, science experiments and other miscellaneous items on-site in the SSPF, and were loaded into the module by the same robotic crane and strapped in securely.

  • Overview of the SSPF factory floor filled with space station modules Overview of the SSPF factory floor filled with space station modules
  • ExPRESS logistics carrier assembly ExPRESS logistics carrier assembly
  • Workers in protective clothing inspect and clean the interior of Node 3 Workers in protective clothing inspect and clean the interior of Node 3
  • ISPR rack configuration in a typical module ISPR rack configuration in a typical module
  • Robotic crane arm loading cargo bags in an MPLM Robotic crane arm loading cargo bags in an MPLM
  • Workers fitting and inspecting the rack mounts Workers fitting and inspecting the rack mounts
  • Workers loading rack covers Workers loading rack covers
  • Leonardo MPLM in its housing jig Leonardo MPLM in its housing jig
  • Checking and testing the antenna Checking and testing the antenna
  • Columbus being hoisted to a manufacturing weigh stand Columbus being hoisted to a manufacturing weigh stand
  • A rack being fitted in the Destiny laboratory A rack being fitted in the Destiny laboratory
  • A worker assembles parts for the Japanese Experiment Module and its robotic arm A worker assembles parts for the Japanese Experiment Module and its robotic arm

Operations and Checkout Building

Adjacent to the Space Station Processing Facility, the Operations and Checkout Building's spacecraft workshop is used for testing of the space station modules in a vacuum chamber to check for leaks which can be repaired on-site. Additionally, systems checking on various electrical elements and machines is conducted. Similar processing operations to the SSPF are conducted in this building if the SSPF area is full, or certain stages of preparation can only be done in the O&C.

  • Quest airlock arriving at KSC on its way to the O&C building Quest airlock arriving at KSC on its way to the O&C building
  • US lab US lab
  • US lab unloaded from its container US lab unloaded from its container
  • US lab loading into vacuum chamber for testing US lab loading into vacuum chamber for testing
  • Overhead crane hoisting the US lab Overhead crane hoisting the US lab
  • S0 Truss S0 Truss

See also

References

  1. "Companies involved with ISS".
  2. "International Space Station | Facts, Missions, & History".
  3. Wade, Mark (15 July 2008). "ISS Zarya". Encyclopaedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  4. "Unity Connecting Module: Cornerstone for a Home in Orbit" (PDF). NASA. January 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  5. "Zvezda Service Module". NASA. 11 March 2009. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  6. "US Destiny Laboratory". NASA. 26 March 2007. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  7. NASA.gov Techs_working_on_ELC_1019.jpg
  8. "Space Station Extravehicular Activity". NASA. 4 April 2004. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  9. "Space Station Assembly: Integrated Truss Structure". NASA. Archived from the original on 7 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  10. "P3 and P4 to expand station capabilities, providing a third and fourth solar array" (PDF). Boeing. July 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  11. "STS-118 MISSION OVERVIEW: BUILD THE STATION…BUILD THE FUTURE" (PDF). NASA PAO. July 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  12. "Columbus laboratory". ESA. 10 January 2009. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
  13. "Stainless Steel, orbiting our planet at 17,150 miles per hour".
  14. "About Kibo". JAXA. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
  15. "Kibo Japanese Experiment Module". NASA. 23 November 2007. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  16. Zak, Anatoly. "Docking Compartment-1 and 2". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  17. Bergin, Chris (9 November 2009). "Russian module launches via Soyuz for Thursday ISS docking". NASASpaceflight.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  18. "NASA Extends Contract With Russia's Federal Space Agency" (Press release). NASA. 9 April 2007. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
  19. "NASA to Test Bigelow Expandable Module on Space Station". NASA. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  20. NASA.gov New Expandable Addition on Space Station to Gather Critical Data for Future Space Habitat Systems 2015
  21. "Thales Alenia Space Joins NanoRacks on Commercial ISS Airlock Module". 5 February 2018.
  22. "FGB-based Multipurpose Lab Module (MLM)". Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  23. NASA.gov
  24. NASA.gov
  25. mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=44772
  26. mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=44912
  27. NASA.gov
  28. mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=51708
  29. NASA.gov

External links

ISS space agency websites

Manufacturer websites

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