European Service Module: assured product manager Erika

See Erika talking to France 3 in French here.

It takes thousands of people to build a lunar spacecraft, let’s meet them and see what they do. Today we let Airbus‘ Erika, from the French island of La Réunion introduce herself:

What is your name and your role on the European Service Module team?

My name is Erika Velio, I am the Product Assurance Manager of the Solar Array Wings of the European Service Module working at Airbus in Leiden, the Netherlands.

How long have you been involved in European Service Module’s development and what were/are your tasks?

I have been working in this programme since the end of 2018.

I make sure that the panels of each model and European Service Module are manufactured to the specifications defined by our prime contractor and our customer, ESA.

I conduct reviews to validate each phase of preparation, manufacturing, testing, qualification and acceptance of the panels.

I ensure that every discrepancy is addressed and that all deviations are justified and accepted.

How did you come to work on European Service Module?

I am an engineer from Réunion island who always wants to inspire young girls and boys towards scientific and technical studies and careers.

I was a team leader on launch campaigns in French Guiana before moving to the Netherlands where I discovered that there was an Airbus site that manufactured parts of our European rockets as well as the instrumentation and panels that equip satellites.

This is where my involvement in the European Service Module world started, I replaced a colleague who retired during the qualification of the first European Service Module. Since then, I have enjoyed working with the team on this very interesting programme from a human and female point of view and also in view of space exploration.

What is the most notable or memorable moment during your time working on European Service Module?

The most memorable part was to start with an ATV design heritage and follow up the modification of our mechanisms design to make the panels movable to swivel in the direction of travel as well as turn to follow the Sun.

Making our suppliers understand the importance of caution and safety rules is important, as these will be crewed flights. We have to show them what each piece they make will be used for.

What does it mean to you to be part of the larger team helping to get humans back on the Moon?

I find it exciting and incredible to be part of such an extraordinary mission.

Moreover, knowing that Artemis is a women’s mission makes me proud.

I like to think that many little girls will be able to identify with this future lunar astronaut and follow their path to becoming an engineer or astronaut.

What is one thing you’d like the European public to know about your job?

What I bring to this type of assignment is the assurance that everything we place in space is functional. We must always ensure that our products meet the requirements of the space conditions. Because we can’t send someone to go up and fix anything.

So my role is to be the guarantor of that product quality and performance.

Do you have any advice for future generations interested in space exploration?

This is a way to contribute to the improvement of life on Earth. We can understand more and more of our physics and create with better and better materials through these space and technology missions.

Just go!