National Space Agency of Malaysia
I. INTRODUCTION
The National Space Agency hosts the National Space Centre in Banting, Selangor. This Centre houses the facilities for space technology development. This note highlights the various facilities that make up the Assembly Integration and Test (AIT) machines and the Mission Control Centre.
Figure 1. The National Space Centre in Banting, Selangor.
II. SATELLITE ASSEMBLY, INTEGRATION AND TEST CENTRE (AITC)
The Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Centre (AITC) completed in 2011, is a facility that will provide those testing conditions as what will be experienced by the spacecraft and its payload. The cost of a building a spacecraft is never cheap, thus, making it even more important to have it thoroughly tested on the ground to ensure the survivability of the spacecraft exceeds the expectations. Therefore, the AITC facility is constructed to accommodate the testing requirements of both ground-based instruments and fully qualified space-flight hardware.
It offers a wide spectrum of test services, such as the vibration and acoustic test, thermal and vacuum test, electromagnetic compatibility test, as well as mass properties and alignment measurement, all under one roof.
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Figure 2. Interior of the AIT facility.
A. Vibration Test
The vibration test is used to simulate the low frequency caused by the launch vehicle during the launch process, to ensure that the satellite can withstand the maximum expected flight environment. Vibration tests are conducted to verify the strength and stiffness of the satellite and whether the satellite can function normally after being exposed to such vibrations. This test is critical to ensure that the design and analysis of the satellite’s structure meet the requirements of
the launcher.
It can also be used to conduct vibration tests for other non-space industries. Environmental Conditions of the Facility:
Temperature: 22 ± 3C Humidity: 55 ± 10% RH Particle (<0.5m): 100,000 unit / ft3 Ground Connection: < 1.0
DUT Receiving Airlock
Spacious high bay for integration works Mechanical ground support equipment such
crane, forklift, etc., are available
Services offered at this facility:
Sine and/or Random Vibration Test High Intensity Acoustic Test Thermal and Vacuum Test EMI/EMC Test
Mass Properties Measurement Alignment Measurement
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Main Specification Model V994 Model V9
Max Sine Thrust 289 kN 105 kN
Max Random Thrust 267 kN 105 kN
Max Velocity 2.0 m/s 3.0 m/s
Useful Frequency 5 – 1700 Hz 5 – 2700 Hz
Max Load (10g Vector) 2693 kg 1070 kg
B. Acoustic Test Chamber
The acoustic chamber is used to simulate the launch process, where a tremendous amount of noise generated in the exhaust plume flowing from the nozzle as the launch vehicle lifts off. The exhaust gas velocity can go as high as 10,000 feet per second, and some of the acoustic energy reflects off the
ground and propagates into the vehicle’s nosecone. This energy is radiated as sound pressure into the internal volume of the nosecone, where the spacecraft is located in the launch vehicle. In this facility, the noise is generated using gaseous nitrogen coupled with noise producer to transform the kinetic energy of the gas into an acoustic waveform which is then directed into the chamber through specific horns. Main Specification Chamber Volume 999.5 m3 Overall Sound Pressure Level 155 dB Frequency Range 20 – 10,000 Hz Sound Generating System Gaseous Nitrogen (GN2)
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C. Acoustic Test Chamber
The mass property measurement system will be used to determine and measure precisely and accurately the physical properties of the satellite, its subsystems and payloads, i.e. to determine the centre of gravity and moment of inertia of the satellite in order to provide for satellite positioning control during orbit insertion and attitude control.
D. Thermal Vacuum Test Chamber
Thermal vacuum chambers are used to simulate the harsh cycle of extreme temperature (hot and cold) in vacuum condition as experienced by the satellite. The thermal vacuum test which will be performed using TVC is extremely important to ensure that the satellite can survive the harsh environment of space. The test is aimed to verify that each component and subsystem is well protected against the harsh environment so that it will always be operating in its desired temperature range.
Main Specification Max Test Weight
• Static
• Dynamic
1300 kg 1000 kg
Max Moment of Inertia 1463 kgm2
Range of Spin Speed 30 – 300 rpm Min Achievable
Readout at 100 rpm 44 kgmm
2
Main Specification Operational Volume 3.7 m () Ultimate Pressure 10-7 mbar
Pumping Rate 10
-6 within 5
hours
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E. EMI / EMS Test Chamber
An EMC chamber is used to test and ensure that the electrical and electronic parts in a satellite will not generate electromagnetic disturbances, which may influence other parts of the satellite. In other words, it deals with problems of noise emission as well as noise immunity of the electrical and electronic components and system. It has the capability to conduct EMI/EMC testing in full accordance with MIL-STD-E.
F. Alignment Measurement System
The alignment measurement system is used to undertake precision geometrical alignment measurement specifically for satellite component alignment. The system comprises two units of theodolites complete with alignment optics, one unit of the rotary table, one unit of the flat table and two units of vertical tooling stand as well as data acquisition system.
III. MISSION CONTROL FACILITY
Mission Control Facility is owned and operated by the National Space Agency that handles the communications for both uplink and downlink between the ground station and spacecraft especially for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite. It has been equipped with a dual function antenna system (S+X Band) with 7.3 meter diameter parabolic dish which can provide Tracking, Telemetry & Control (TT&C) in S-Band and Payload Data Reception in X-Band at maximum data rate 640Mbps. The antenna system can perform in various mode of operation in Auto Track, Program Track and Manual Track on both Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP)
Main Specification Operational Area 5m Compliance Full Anechoic Chamber Frequency Range 20 Hz – 40 GHz Main Specification Theodolite System Accuracy 0.5 arcsecond Rotary Table • Indexing Accuracy • Repeatability ± 5 arcsecond ± 1 arcsecond
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and Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP). The antenna system has a capability in receiving in both data signal RHCP and LHCP simultaneously.
A. Antenna System Specification
This facility has been in operational since 2005 and had successfully provided the services to a number of space missions either local or international such as GIOVE-A Mission from European Space Agency (ESA) and Rocket Launcher GSLV-D05 Mission from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). S-BAND (TT&C) X-BAND (PAYLOAD DATA RECEPTION) FREQUENCY Uplink 2025 MHz – 2110 MHz - Downlink 2200 MHz – 2290 MHz 8000 MHz – 8400 MHz Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) 55dBW N/A Gain over Temperature (G/T) 19 dB/K 32 dB/K Data Rate
Receive: Cortex Quantum XL (up to 20Mbps)
Transmit: 10 bps – 10kbps (low)
100bps – 1Mbps (high)
Receive: Payload Data: Cortex HDR XXL (max. up to 640Mbps) Modulation Supported Cortex Quantum (PCM/PM, PCM/FM, BPSK, QPSK, OQPSK, SOQPSK, GMSK or AQPSK)
Cortex HDR XXL and Viasat VHR1200 (BPSK, QPSK, OQPSK, UQPSK, 8PSK,16APSK,16QAM) Link Coding Descrambling Reed-Solomon Convolutional Viterbi Station Location: Longitude : 101.50778 oE (101o30’ 28” E) Latitude : 2.78433 oN (2o47’ 3.59” N)
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IV. OPTICAL CALIBRATION LABORATORY
Optical Calibration Laboratory building was completely built on 10 March 2006. It was the pioneering lab in Malaysia that can calibrate the optical system of a satellite. This lab was fully operational on 6 April 2006 where there is a clean room located inside. It is a double storey building with control room for the clean room, dust control area, loading area on the ground floor while the first floor is a research office.
The services that can be offered to the customer is the radiometric characterisation and calibration include:
i. Dark Response; ii. Pixel Characterization; iii. Dynamic Range; iv. Response Linearity;
v. Noise Characterization; vi. Equivalent Noise Radiance; vii. Radiance Saturation; viii. Signal To Noise Ratio; and
ix. Absolute Radiometric Coefficient.
Environmental conditions of the lab: Temperature 18 ± 2 oC
Humidity 50 ± 5 %
Particle Dust particles smaller than 0.5㎛: less than 10 000 units/ft3
Ground connection less than 10 Ω
Lightning 500 Lux
Components:
Integrating Sphere
A 40-inch sphere capable of producing a uniform light source from 400 - 2400 nm.
Peak Radiance 1000 W/m2/sr/µm at ~0.6 µm
Luminance Range 0 – 34000 cd/m2
Spectrum Simulating ~100% Earth Albedo
Variable Correlated Colour Temperature 3200K to 5900K
ASD Spectroradiometer
Capable of measuring spectral distribution from 350 nm to 1050 nm.
Used for monitoring the spectral distribution of light inside the Integrating Sphere.
Turn Table
With 2250 (W) x2000 (L) mm and 1500mm height, it can support the maximum 400kg load with 2000 x 2000 mm footprint size at one time.
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from its horizontal position to vertical position (90°) in order to align the satellite/device under test imaging system with Integrating Sphere exit port.
ASM Sc. J., 12, Special Issue 2, 2019 for Malaysia in Space, 81-89 Section 4: Remote Sensing