Fraunhofer IWU and ESA: Sensor technology for Ariane production

Fraunhofer: coordinated sensor technology Seamless Monitoring of Aerospace Production

2026-03-27 Source: Press release | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz (Germany) and the European Space Agency ESA will use jointly developed sensor technologies to monitor and document the production and assembly of components for the Ariane space rocket.

Jointly developed, innovative sensor technology will monitor the production of the Ariane space rocket seamlessly and in real time at all production sites.(Source: ESA) — Jointly developed, innovative sensor technology will monitor the production of the Ariane space rocket seamlessly and in real time at all production sites.
(Source: ESA)

A perfectly synchronised production network is essential for the aerospace industry. This is the only way to reliably manufacture highly accurate components. Sensor technology can play an important role in this. It is used for the physical traceability of components, condition monitoring of tools, machines, systems and equipment as well as quality management. But high-performance sensor technology also makes energy consumption in production more manageable.

Ready for practice

Safely into space: Monitoring all manufacturing and assembly steps at all production sites involved plays a key role in ensuring that the Ariane 6 space rocket will reliably launch a large number of European satellites into orbit in the future.(Source: ESA) — Safely into space: Monitoring all manufacturing and assembly steps at all production sites involved plays a key role in ensuring that the Ariane 6 space rocket will reliably launch a large number of European satellites into orbit in the future.
(Source: ESA)

Following a successful pilot phase, Fraunhofer IWU and the European Space Agency ESA are now rolling out four sensor groups to all production sites of the European space rocket Ariane as part of the "Smartsens" project. "The aim is to bring all data together in one platform (ESA-Steam) and evaluate it for closed quality loops," explains Dipl.-Ing. Albrecht Hänel, head of the Digital Production Twin department at Fraunhofer IWU and project manager at the institute. So-called asset trackers monitor the availability, condition and location of production facilities and equipment as well as key manufacturing processes in real time.

From the manufacturing process to assembly

By monitoring vibrations in the process, important conclusions can be drawn about the stability of the processes and therefore the product quality. GPS trackers ensure complete traceability of parts and components on their way to the production and assembly plants, during further processing and during transportation to (final) assembly. A fourth category of sensors keeps an eye on energy consumption during production and thus helps to minimise the CO₂ footprint caused by production.

Michael Mangold (left, Production Manager, Leuka GmbH) and Baris Dogan (Technical Sales Engineer, Ceratizit) are satisfied with the newly developed cutter for titanium machining. (Source:Ceratizit)

Continuing to improve together

The "Smartsens" project is part of the ESA program "IMPROVE! - Technologies for Smart Manufacturing, Intelligent Logistics and Sustainability" program. The initiatives of this program are aimed at a fully automated and intelligent end-to-end value chain for the Ariane 6 launcher and the P120C rocket engine. The focus is on pioneering innovations in the areas of predictive maintenance, networked sensor networks, digital supply chain management and sustainable production processes.

Fraunhofer IWU launched the project in May 2025 together with AS Consulting. In the first phase, the sensor technologies were tested and validated in a real production environment at MTA Augsburg. Energy and vibration sensors from ABB, systems from Brady for real-time plant traceability and GPS trackers from Trusted A/S for transport monitoring are being used. The production partners in whose plants the sensors are now being installed include the Ariane Group (Vernon/France), Avio S.p.A. (Colleferro/Italy), GKN Aerospace Sweden AB (Trollhättan) and ATC Space s.r.o Klatovy (Czech Republic).

(kmu)

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