The Gaia spacecraft with the deployable sunshield assembly in flight configuration at Kourou
Date: 21 October 2013
Satellite: Gaia
Copyright: ESA-CNES-Arianespace / Optique Vidéo du CSG - S. Martin
The Gaia spacecraft, with Deployable Sunshield Assembly (DSA) stowed in position, in the S1B cleanroom at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana.
The Gaia spacecraft was flown on an Antonov transport plane from Toulouse Blagnac airport in France to Félix Eboué airport in French Guiana on 23 August 2013. The DSA arrived five days later.
In Kourou, the DSA was installed on the spacecraft and the deployment mechanism was tested. Once this was completed the DSA was stowed against the spacecraft body in the flight configuration.
The Prime Contractor for Gaia is Astrium SAS, based in Toulouse, France. SENER (Spain) is responsible for the development and manufacture of the Deployable Sunshield Assembly. The thermal blankets are provided by RUAG Aerospace Austria and the carbon fibre frames come from RUAG Aerospace Switzerland.
