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Teams of students, industry leaders and professors at a University in Dublin are currently designing, building, and preparing to launch Ireland’s very first satellite.
When completed, the satellite will carry three experiments on its Low Earth Orbit of Earth, at an altitude of 400km.
Gamma-ray Module;
The Gamma-ray Module (GMOD) is a miniaturised sensor for use in the detection of gamma-rays from cosmic and atmospheric phenomena.
ENBIO Module;
The ENBIO Module (EMOD) is an experiment measuring how protective coatings perform in space. EMOD consists of two black panels and two white panels which will have their temperature monitored.
In orbit around the earth in the shade, it can be extremely cold (-100℃), but indirect sunlight it can get very hot (150℃) and these changes in temperature can cause problems for spacecraft. ENBIO coatings control the temperature of the spacecraft. The Solar-Black is highly absorbing and highly emitting, Solar-White is low absorbing and also highly emitting.
Wave Based Control Module;
The Wave Based Control Module (WBC) is an attitude control system. A spacecraft’s “attitude” is its orientation in space. The satellite will use the Earth’s magnetic field to turn itself in any desired direction.
With completion and launch expected in the coming years, the team will continue to utilise the Cleanroom in further projects in the future as well as for educational purposes, aiding UCD students to build small satellites across the university’s Space Science programmes.
Key Objectives
A PhD student in the University’s Space Science group and Assembly Integration and Testing Technician for the project, approached us in 2018 in search of a solution to guarantee a highly clean environment in which the team could design, assemble and test the 20cm x 10cm x 10cm satellite’s 3 payload experiments and subsystems.
Our Solution
3m x 3m ISO Class 8 Modular Cleanroom.
The experienced team identified our Modular Cleanroom as the ideal solution to meet the needs of the project who would be assembling delicate technologies, capable of withstanding the harsh environment of space.
The unit includes a 3m x 3m Production Area, with Soft-Close Sliding Doors and LED Lighting throughout.
The high-quality system, assembled on-site, is extremely adaptable, constructed from a smooth profile aluminium framework with aluminium composite and clear non-break polycarbonate created windowpanes.
The room also includes the CAM1000 Clean Air Module, guaranteeing a positive pressure and ISO Class 8 clean environment within the production area. The unit filters air as it enters the room through HEPA filters (99.997% efficient at 0.3 microns) before creating the positive pressure in the environment, providing up to 1000m3of HEPA filtered air, a total of 75 clean air changes per hour.
