“Our success with Columbus is not only a great testament to the whole Astrium team but also cements our reputation as a true global player in the field of human space travel,” said Helmut Luttmann, Astrium’s head of ISS operation and exploitation, in Bremen.

Columbus is another demonstration of Astrium’s expertise in manned space travel. Columbus was the first space laboratory to be equipped on the ground enabling scientific work to begin immediately after docking with the ISS.

The Columbus space laboratory is Europe’s main contribution to the International Space Station ISS. The laboratory made its journey to the ISS on space shuttle “Atlantis”, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on 7 February 2008.

In the Columbus laboratory, scientists can carry out experiments across a variety of disciplines (biotechnology, medicine, material sciences, fluid sciences, human sciences) and experiments in applied technology projects that would not possible in Earth’s gravity. One of the first experiments carried out in the Biolab was WAICO (Waving and Coiling of Arabidopsis Roots), which studies plant growth under zero-gravity conditions. It has already delivered some interesting preliminary results on gravity detection and growth behaviour in response to predefined gravity stimuli.

“The astronauts are trained by Astrium instructors at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne. The technical training of the astronauts who are to work in the Columbus module, and the handling of the ATV at the space station, are part and parcel of the contract,” said Luttmann. “In principle, Astrium is involved in every mission to the Space Station.”

The industrial operation and exploitation of the International Space Station is the result of the €2.6 billion exploitation contract between ESA and Astrium. Set to run until 2013, the contract covers both the production of future ATV transport vehicles and the preparation of these missions. It includes mission control and the provision of supplies to all European elements of the ISS. The contract also regulates the activities of the Columbus Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, which is operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) on behalf of Astrium.

Astrium’s aerospace engineers spent 10 years working on the Columbus space station module, which weighs nearly 13 metric tons. Ten European countries are involved in the Columbus project. The major partners involved were Germany (51 percent), Italy (23 percent) and France (18 percent). USA and Canada also participated. Columbus cost €880 million and is designed for an operational life of ten years at least.

The conceptual design of the Columbus module draws on the experience gained by Astrium in the development and construction of the Spacelab space laboratory begun in the late 1970s.

“After successfully completing the Columbus and ATV development programmes, we are now focusing on the operation and exploitation of the International Space Station,” Luttmann concluded.