A Satellite in Hot Water

A critical satellite processing facility that Space Coast Launch Services is contracted to maintain had an issue with the hot water feeding the HVAC environmental control. The predictive maintenance team helped the technicians to determine the source of the leak using thermography. The infrared findings saved approximately $250,000 and hundreds of man hours, eliminating the need to dig up a 30-foot berm and the entire pipeline area. This quick repair resulted in the continued environmental control of a $300 million GPS satellite and no launch schedule delay, which would have been extremely detrimental to the contract both financially and politically. In addition, if the environment of the satellite goes out of specification and allows condensation to form, the satellite may have to go through a major re-build and cleaning process requiring thousands of man-hours and millions of dollars to complete. The predictive maintenance team has implemented the same technique for all of our chilled and hot water pipes. We are monitoring the condition of the submerged pipes and above ground pipes, as well as the condition of the insulation and leak detection.