This support is applied to all elements of space systems including hardware, software and human dependability.
The activities in support to the ESA projects are carried out with the help of innovative laboratories with skilled experts, performing audits & inspections of products and processes, using various analytical and simulation tools.
A large part of the department operates in the field of Product Assurance and Safety. The domain comprise of Product Assurance management, Quality Assurance, Dependability, Safety, EEE components, Parts, Materials and Processes Assurance, Radiation Hardness Assurance, Cleanliness and Contamination Control and Software Product Assurance as well as Flight Safety, Space Debris Mitigation and Planetary Protection.
The TEC-Q activities are supported by a team of about 220 highly specialised colleagues. One third of the population is directly integrated in the ESA Project Teams providing independent support to reduce risk and implement corrective actions to ensure that all design, product and process related assurance and control measures of ESA's activities are carried out in line with the needs of the Agency.
Coordination of the standardisation effort
The department is responsible, under the authority of the ESA Standardisation Steering Board (ESSB), for the overall coordination of the standardisation effort within the Agency and for the support to the activities of the European Cooperation for Space Standardisation (ECSS).
Units
Divisions
Technical Reliability and Quality Division
The Division is responsible for the management of material, processes, electrical, electromechanical and electronic components evaluation and standardisation activities.
Quality, Dependability and PA Support Division
This division chairs the ESA Management Standardisation Board (MSB) and participating in relevant external standardisation bodies concerning management standards.
Related labs
Materials & Electrical Components Laboratory
Made up of more than 20 dedicated experimental facilities and hundreds of instruments overall, the Materials & Electrical Components Laboratory guarantees an optimal choice of electrical components, materials and processes for ESA missions and external projects. This is accomplished by considering the unique environmental challenges involved in building for space, and, additionally, investigating failures to ensure that similar issues do not occur on future missions.
