ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter core module during integration at Thales Alenia Space, Cannes
Date: 21 December 2014
Satellite: ExoMars 2016
Depicts: Trace Gas Orbiter core module
Copyright: ESA–A. Le Floc'h
Pictured here is the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) core module during integration of its electrical subsystems at Thales Alenia Space, Cannes, France in November 2014. The module is approximately 3.5 metres tall and measures two by two metres in cross section. The lower (square) part of the core module is the service module, which houses the majority of the non-instrument subsystems. At the lower left of the service module, a gold-coloured box can be seen lying on a horizontal panel; this is the power conditioning unit (PCU), which takes the electrical power generated by the solar arrays and makes it suitable for charging the spacecraft battery and powering the payload. The battery will be mounted behind (in this configuration) the PCU; the PCU/battery panel hinges up into the service module once integration is complete. The main TGO computer, known as the spacecraft management unit, or SMU, is visible at the extreme right of the service module, partially obscured by the vertical pole.
