There is no room for error in the space industry. Once a rocket launches a satellite into orbit, no one can repair it. Whether a mission costing millions of euros succeeds or turns into expensive space debris is decided by people like him – Aleš Fritscher – Space Product Assurance at TRL SPACE.
His journey into the space industry began inconspicuously – at a soldering station. “Thanks to my dad, I had a part-time job in the automotive industry while still in high school, where I repaired electronics. I had the basics, which came in handy in aerospace,” he recalls. Thanks to his eye for detail and steady hands, he quickly worked his way up. Just one month after starting his first job, he was in Genoa, Italy, for ESA (European Space Agency) certification.
“I had to prove that I had sufficient fine motor skills to solder flight components directly under a microscope without looking at my hands. Since then, I have been able to officially sign all my work with the ESA stamp of expertise,” he says.
After 13 years in the field and more than five years spent in Milan, Italy, he returned to Brno, where he was gradually attracted by the vision of TRL SPACE, whose key representatives he already knew from his previous projects. “In this respect, Brno is a truly extraordinary place, where most people in aerospace know each other really well.
Product Assurance: complex documentation that has to be right
At TRL Space, he holds a position in Space Product Assurance (PA). If you imagine an inspector in a factory who just ticks boxes, you are far from the truth.
A Space Product Assurance in aerospace is more of a diplomat, analyst, and strategist rolled into one.
“In aerospace, paperwork is just as important as hardware. Every screw and every connection must have its birth certificate and the signature of the person responsible. At the same time, I have to align internal audits with project milestones so that I don’t block anyone. It’s about constant communication between departments,” he explains. He adds the most important point of his mission, where quality must always prevail over deadlines: “If the output is not 100% perfect, I would rather negotiate a deadline extension with the customer than release something that I cannot fully vouch for,” he explains.
Europe vs. the rest of the world: Are we too cautious?
His experience with international projects gives him insight into how Europe is doing compared to fierce competition from the United States or China. ECSS standards, which are “sacred scripture” in Europe, ensure maximum reliability, but they also have their limits.
“Europe is betting on absolute reliability. It’s its policy and its standards, which we are used to. On the other hand, this sometimes requires an extreme amount of time,” he reflects. While giant players like SpaceX used to make a lot of mistakes, from which they then learned quickly, ESA cannot afford failure, given its public funding. The result is top quality, but a lower launch rate.
Brno as the heart of the space industry
Although he spent years in Italy working on prestigious projects (including a drill for the ExoMars rover mission), Brno was a clear choice for him. He sees the South Moravian Region as the heart of the space industry.
“The companies in the Brno cluster are very well connected – one manufactures, another tests, and a third develops. If we can agree, we are truly capable of building our own satellite or space missions, because we are all here, we meet, and we know each other. Then there is one more thing that I have really liked about TRL Space since the very beginning of our cooperation. While I had more or less reached the peak at my previous job and was just monitoring the most significant innovations on the market, it was only after coming here that I realized how ‘endless’ the space program is and how much I actually don’t know. I meet dozens of experts whose know-how is fascinating. Of course, this motivates me because I am captivated by working in this field—and it is actually the only field in which it makes sense for me to work.
Working in aerospace still has a touch of the extraordinary about it, as confirmed by a story from his youth: “When I was twenty and returning from Italy, my friends didn’t believe me. I told them I was soldering things that would fly into orbit, and they replied, ‘Stop talking nonsense and tell us what you do, there’s no need to be ashamed.’ They couldn’t accept that this was reality and that it was happening right under our noses.”
Today, no one is laughing. TRL Space is heading to the moon, and he is there to make sure that Czech dreams on their way to the stars don’t crash due to technical errors.
