Based in Bremen, Germany, EADS Astrium is responsible for the planning, development and manufacturing of the Columbus research module. This module is designed to enable scientific organisations and businesses to conduct research and experiments on the ISS. On board Columbus, a data management system and a local area network (LAN) connect the research module internally, allowing uninterrupted data exchange between the Space Station and its communication systems.

Three computers manage the IT tasks on board Columbus, carrying out functions such as data acquisition, data transmission to the ground station as well as the initiation of scheduled IT-related activities. The computers are networked together via 10 Mbit/second Ethernet in half duplex mode. Thanks to the capabilities of the ProCurve switches, the payload systems can now be networked at 10 Mbit/second or 100 Mbit/second (full duplex mode). In the centre of the network, there are two redundantly networked Columbus LAN switches, developed by EADS Astrium.

To maximize its research and computing capabilities, Columbus required the implementation of a high-performance, reliable and highly resistant managed Ethernet network, to ensure that the network on board Columbus allows scientists the maximum research possibilities in a zero gravity environment. This network implementation on the European module of the Space Station, the requirements of which demanded a service life of at least ten years, means that for the first time in the history of space travel, there are now fully functional, commercial Ethernet switches operating in space.

Extensive tests were carried out at the Proton Irradiation Facility in Villigen, Switzerland, where switches from various manufacturers were exposed to radiation in a particle accelerator under conditions similar to those found in space. Switches from manufacturers including Avaya, Cisco, Netgear, 3Com and D-Link were either considered or put through rigorous examinations over a lengthy period of time. The results revealed that the ProCurve Switch 2524 was the only switch to meet the Space Station’s needs in terms of performance, robustness, reliability, and radiation/mechanical resistance. Furthermore, impressively, the ProCurve Switch 2524 used in testing was one taken from the standard production line.

Rolf Schmidhuber, Columbus Data Management System Engineer for EADS Astrium explained how the components of the ProCurve Switch 2524 were a key determining factor in the selection process:

“Inside the ProCurve Switch 2524, a central switch fabric handles the majority of tasks, while switches from other manufacturers tend to distribute across a number of chips. By using significantly fewer chips on the circuit board, this proved much more advantageous to us, as the fewer components present, the lower the susceptibility to radiation and mechanical duress during the launch into space. This was a key reason why ProCurve beat the competition.”

Another decisive factor for EADS Astrium was that the ProCurve 2524 comes with a wealth of administration and configuration options. After the decision was made to implement ProCurve, the EADS Astrium team further developed and optimised the ProCurve Switch 2524 to ensure its viability as a switch for use in space. The task of developing and optimising this implementation was handled by the EADS Astrium team responsible for Columbus system technology for on-board data processing.

Schmidhuber concluded: “To put it simply, ProCurve was the only networking vendor whose switches offered us the level of reliability and performance required to handle the intense demands on board Columbus.”

After three years of development time, the EADS Astrium team, supported by ProCurve Networking, finally completed the installation in 2005. The ProCurve switches were configured and then underwent qualification testing prior to installation onboard the Columbus module.

The Columbus module successfully docked with the ISS and became fully functional in February 2008, making the ProCurve 2524 switches the first commercial Ethernet switches in space. Given that Columbus is now operating some 400 kilometres above the Earth, EADS Astrium has on this occasion kindly waived ProCurve’s usual next business-day on-site replacement policy!

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