Background
Founded
in 1984 COM DEV Europe (CDE) is a microwave and electronics
design and manufacturing subsidiary of COM DEV International.
Based in Aylesbury (30miles north west of London) CDE supplies
complex equipment, technology solutions and subsystems for space
and terrestrial applications. Its major customers include commercial
organisations such as Alcatel, Boeing, Astrium and SS/Loral
together with governmental agencies such as ESA, BNSC and MOD
UK.
Facilities
Two
facilities (totalling 2300 sq.m) operate in close proximity
on the same modern business park.
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Unit
10
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Unit
4
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Two
class 10,000 cleanrooms and a class 10,000 area are maintained
for the assembly and test of space hardware. ESA certified technologists
routinely perform delicate and highly skilled operations such
as gold tape bonding before subjecting the finished equipment
to comprehensive acceptance testing.
Both cleanrooms house an extensive inventory of COTS and special
to type test equipment covering the range DC to 50GHz. CDE also
possesses Thermal and Thermal Vacuum facilities for environmental
testing whilst mechanical and EMC testing is conducted at several
local specialist facilities.
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Cleanroom
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TVAC
Facility
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A
small dedicated workshop is maintained with a full CNC capability,
backed up by co-ordinate measuring machines to verify critical
mechanical parameters.
For design activities CDE uses OrCAD software for circuit analysis
along with HFSS, HP Series 4 RF design software, SINDA and NISA
(for Mechanical and Thermal modelling respectively) and Pro
Engineer for mechanical design. Proprietary software is used
for filter designs offering proven accuracy between modelled
and achieved performance.
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CMM,
co-ordinate measuring machine
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RF
Production
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Heritage
Since
1988 COM DEV Europe has produced hardware for over
45 European and North American satellite programmes
These are summarised below:
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TELECOM II |
CASSINI |
METOP, ASCAT |
| LOCSTAR |
MTSAT
1 |
CD
RADIO |
| HISPASAT
1 |
ENVISAT,
MIPAS |
RESSAT |
| INMARSAT
III |
SIRIUS
2 |
GOES
N,O |
| INTELSAT
VII |
MSG,
SEVIRI |
NSTAR
C |
| INTELSAT
VIIa |
SESAT |
MTSAT
1 R |
| ORION
1 |
EUTELSAT
W24 |
INTELSAT
10 |
| SPOT
4 |
PANAMSAT |
INMARSAT
4 |
| ARTEMIS |
SICRAL
1 |
ETS
8 |
| ITALSAT
2 |
INSAT
2 |
ICOMTSAT
2 |
| COLUMBUS |
EUTELSAT
6A |
EUTELSAT
W3A |
| INTELSAT
VIII |
INTELSAT
KTV |
CRYOSAT,
SIRAL |
| ASIASAT
2 |
ORION
2 |
RAINBOW |
| GE1,
2 AND 3 |
INTELSAT
9 |
TOPSAT |
| MBSAT |
CLOUDSAT |
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| AEHF |
AMAZONAS |
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Customers
COM
DEV Europe’s customer base includes all the major Prime
Contractors:
COM DEV Europe has also worked with:
NASA’s
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory (RAL)
GEC
Marconi Infra Red Ltd. (GMIRL)
Fokker
Space
ANT
Links
COM
DEV Europe is an active member of the UK and European space
industry, maintaining close links with the British National
Space Centre (BNSC) and ESA through its involvement in committee
and working groups.
COM DEV Europe also maintains close links with local, but internationally
recognised, centres of technical excellence through collaborative
work programmes
Links with the community are seen as very important with COM
DEV Europe drawing on a mainly local workforce for its non engineering
staff. The company is keen to promote an interest in engineering
in local schools and colleges and is active in supporting schemes
which do so.
Industry
Links
UK
Space Industry Best Practise Club
United
Kingdom Industrial Space Committee (UKISC)
Society
of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC)
Association
of Specialist Technical Organisations for Space (ASTOS)
Community
links
Technology
College Steering Group
Engineering
Education Scheme
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