PA/QA
Ensuring Flight Hardware Meets Space-Grade Standards
Nord Space provided specialist ECSS workmanship and hardware qualification support for a European space mission, helping verify electrical crimp connections used within flight hardware. The activity combined hands-on manufacturing support, qualification testing and technical review to ensure that non-standard wiring could be demonstrated to meet the required mechanical and electrical performance for use in a space application.
Nord Space role: Hardware qualification support
Challenge
Space hardware must meet strict workmanship and reliability requirements, particularly for electrical connections where a single poor crimp can create a mission-critical failure point. During hardware development, a wire type had been selected that was not manufactured to a standard ECSS or MIL specification. This meant the project needed additional evidence to demonstrate that the selected crimping process and tool settings would not negatively affect the mechanical or electrical integrity of the connection. The challenge was therefore to establish and document a repeatable, qualified crimping process supported by physical test evidence.
Approach
Nord Space provided an experienced space-hardware specialist to support the qualification activity directly at the customer's facility. Representative crimp samples were produced using different crimp-tool settings and subsequently subjected to tensile pull testing. The results were compared against the required acceptance criteria to identify and verify the correct production setting. A nominal crimp setting was established and confirmed through testing, with representative samples retained for traceability and additional samples prepared for micro-sectioning and further evaluation. Nord Space also reviewed the project's crimp qualification documentation against relevant ECSS practices and provided recommendations covering connector assembly, heat-shrink application, connector protection and flight-representative configuration.
Outcome
The required crimp configurations were successfully produced and tested, with the selected nominal tool setting demonstrating compliance with the required tensile performance. Qualification samples were prepared and forwarded for independent micro-sectioning, while retention samples were preserved for future investigation and traceability. The activity provided the project with documented evidence supporting the selected manufacturing process and helped reduce technical risk before the electrical connections were implemented in flight hardware.
Capabilities applied
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