Ascent Aerospace awarded Airbus Beluga XL assembly line integration contract

Ascent Aerospace announced today that its Ascent Integration & Automation Group has been awarded a contract by Airbus for the Belug...

Ascent Aerospace announced today that its Ascent Integration & Automation Group has been awarded a contract by Airbus for the Beluga XL Final Assembly Station.

The Beluga XL is an A330 heavily modified to transport large, oversized aerostructure components from Airbus supplier facilities across Europe to the Airbus final assembly line in Toulouse, France.

Under this contract Ascent Integration - European Operations, will manage the design, integration, build and installation of the equipment and tooling necessary to assemble this unique aircraft.
Ascent Integration will be responsible for providing a "turnkey" integrated assembly system incorporating all the assembly jigs, work platforms, transport systems, laser metrology, and tools required to assemble the new Beluga XL.

The project is unique in that, while only five aircraft will be converted, the assembly system must deliver the efficiency, accuracy and worker safety levels required by Airbus. The contract will conducted from April 2015 to November 2017.

Airbus, during the Paris Air Show 2015, has announced the aerostructure suppliers for Beluga XL, which is slated to enter service in 2019.

Ascent Integration consists of two organizations: Ascent Integration -European Operations (Toulouse, France) and Ascent Integration - US Operations (Macomb Township, Michigan, USA).