TS-Space Systems - Solar Simulators and Vacuum Testing

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Outgassing and Test Facility Availability

28/9/2020

 
Our outgassing (ECSS-Q-ST-70-02) test facility has seen increasing demand over the past few years and 2020 it seems is no different. The facility is currently booked until the second half of January 2021. If you are looking to book an outgassing test please contact us sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.
Similarly our vacuum test chambers seeing an increase in demand towards the end of the year, so if you are looking to make an enquiry for an urgent test or looking to book a test for next year this is worth keeping in mind.
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At the start of 2020 we took delivery of a new TVAC chamber which we had scheduled to come online mid 2020. However during the UK covid-19 response in March we undertook large scale improvements to our test house involving a new floor being poured and laid along with a complete re-wiring of the laboratory to support the additional equipment we have installed. This required a complete dismantling of all of our test chambers and equipment in order to clear the lab.
Due to this disruption, along with the increased test and manufacturing demand in the second half of the year, we have had to delay the commissioning of TVAC#3 into 2021. Work has continued on the machining of the thermal exchange plate and installation of the pumps on the chamber system. However final run-up and testing is not scheduled until the start of 2021. Once ready the additional chamber in our facility will increase throughput and reduce wait times for TVAC tests.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers who have either been using us for years or have just found is this year. We realise being busy is a very nice problem to have right now and so we thank you for choosing us for your test work.

August Update and News

8/8/2019

 

Custom Outgassing Chambers


​We have just shipped a custom outgassing chamber to a US customer. While our own outgassing facility is in virtually constant use, we haven't been contracted to build an outgassing test system in some time.​

The thermal, vacuum pump and valve systems are fully computer controlled with the bell jar being lifted via an electrical screw jack. This makes operating the system in terms of loading samples, pumping down and bringing the Knudsen cells to temperature extremely user friendly. We were so pleased with it we were tempted to keep it for ourselves!

If you are interested in our outgassing chamber build, or our in-house outgassing services, please feel free to get in touch.
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TVAC Testing Availability

We are lucky to have had the problem of too much work for our TVAC chambers through most of 2019. Both TVAC#1 and TVAC#2 are currently occupied, with TVAC#2 finally getting some down time for maintenance at the end of this month. TVAC#1 is currently occupied with a longer term R&D contract but is booked to be turned around immediately after.

We have upgrades for TVAC#2 currently in production, with a new cold shroud and IR mountings to improve cooling rates/min temperatures as well as reduce down time for things like IR lamp replacements. We've also increased the data feedthroughs available on the chamber which was necessary for another last-minute test, for which we were able to manufacture, clean, fit and leak test our own dual-dsub connector feedthrough in just under a week.

Latest Test House News

3/5/2019

 

FTIR Facility

We are very pleased to announce that our new FTIR facility is now available for analysing molecular contamination witness plates in accordance with ECSS-Q-ST-70-05C on site. With this we can now offer MOC plate processing on-site for bakeouts and TVAC testing (if required) which will reduce the time between pre-bake qualification of the chamber and beginning hardware bakeouts.

We also have an ATR module for the system which will serve our outgassing facility for analysis of any condensate deposited on the collection mirrors during testing (at customer request, of course).
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Outgassing ESA Certification

Last year our outgassing facility took part in the inter-laboratory comparison for ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C and in March this year we were told to anticipate an ESA certification for our outgassing facility.

We have conducted outgassing testing for over 20 years and it is an increasingly popular test we are contracted to perform. The impending ESA certification of our outgassing laboratory  is a testimony to the diligence and skill of the facility manager, Sue.

TVAC#1, Outgassing Charges and Other News

1/4/2019

 
We have had a very busy start to the year which is why ours news updates have been so few in the past 3 months. We are still very busy with test work (thermal vacuum bakeouts and thermal vacuum cycling) as well as building a large piece of bespoke test equipment for a new customer.

TVAC#1 has been down for maintenance longer than scheduled, primarily due to the sudden influx of test work at the beginning of the year which demanded our attention. We are now just about to begin pumping down and leak testing TVAC#1 and checking the new T/C's and heaters we have fitted. We will also be fitting a PID control unit for the IR heaters to this vacuum chamber so that it has the same capability as TVAC#2.

We have also had delays in obtaining materials required for commissioning our FTIR system for contamination monitoring during bakeouts. We now have everything in stock and will be working to get this established as soon as possible. Our first use of this will be to run blank bakes on our TVAC#1 vacuum test chamber to get it back in service. We will then be able to offer in-house FTIR analysis for contamination control for both our thermal vacuum bakeout facilities.

Finally, we have not reviewed our Outgassing (ECSS-Q-ST-70-02) facility charges for over 4 years and as such a price for this service is planned for later in the year. We will be announcing any changes via our news blog and our newsletter.

Test Quote Request Form

4/1/2017

 
Due to an increase in quote requests for our test services we have a new form for requesting quotes for vacuum testing which can be found here. Although we specialise in custom testing requirements, collating common test requirements using this initial form will help us get your quote out much faster.

We are also in the process of updating our standard outgassing test information to cover regular questions and problems we are asked regarding sample preparation. For our existing customers please note our outgassing charges will remain the same for 2017, so if you used us for your outgassing test work in 2016 and are looking to use us again in 2017, the prices are the same.

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New Outgassing Test Facility And More!

19/7/2016

 
outgassing testing
We have been busy improving our in-house outgassing test facility by moving our equipment to its own, dedicated room. Demand has been exceptionally high for our outgassing test services in 2016 so if you are looking to book a test, the earlier you can let us know of your requirement the easier it will be for us to schedule your test.

solar simulator
We are also building several 'Unisim Compact' solar simulators for in-house test work and demonstration. The updated design for 2016 includes a new enclosure system and shutter design that removes the need to compressed air and reduces the overall weight of the system.

The standard solar simulator will now also be shipped with a machined base plate that is capable of taking LED boost zone upgrades that can be fitted retrospectively. These LED boost zones allow the standard 2-zone close match solar simulator to be operated as a 4-zone close match solar simulator. More information on this mode of solar simulator operation is available here.

More details will be announced next month.

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