Yahsat Space Laboratory Launched at Masdar Institute

The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a research-driven graduate-level institution focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, and Al Yahsat Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), have opened the Yahsat Space Laboratory. Masdar Institute is a part of the newly-established Khalifa University of Science and Technology in the UAE.

Launched by officials from Masdar Institute, Yahsat and Orbital ATK, the lab responds to the UAE leadership’s call to develop and advance technologies within the space sector and to make continuing strides toward the UAE’s advanced space ambitions.

The new lab has been designed to provide students and faculty of the Masdar Institute with the facilities required to construct, test and launch miniature satellite CubeSats. The high-tech and specialized research facilities within the lab will also support the development of intellectual capital required to advance the space and aerospace sectors. Additionally, the lab will serve as a platform for future research in space technologies, allowing the UAE Space Agency to work with the Institute and other partners on collaborative projects that facilitate the advancement of the local space sector.

Speaking at the opening Masood. M. Sharif Mahmood, CEO at Yahsat said: “We are deeply honored to be launching the Yahsat Space Laboratory at the Masdar Institute campus today, a facility that is dedicated for advanced research and enabling students to develop CubeSats. At Yahsat, we strongly believe that by complementing educational programs with state-of-the-art facilities for learning and development, we can provide best quality education to the youth, right here in the UAE. We would also like to thank Masdar Institute and Orbital ATK for their cooperation and support in making this laboratory a reality.”

Dr Behjat Al Yousuf, Interim Provost, Masdar Institute, said: “The inauguration of the Yahsat Space Laboratory is a momentous occasion not only for our university, but also for the UAE’s space ambitions. The country has a goal of sending an unmanned space probe to Mars by 2021, which will require the development of a new generation of engineers and innovators. I am confident the new Yahsat Space Lab, in conjunction with university’s space concentration, will play a significant role in training the experts needed for this ambitious objective.”

The Yahsat Space Laboratory will be led by Masdar Institute faculty Dr Saif Almheiri, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Dr Prashanth Marpu, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. They will head the development of CubeSats designed collaboratively by MI, Yahsat and Orbital ATK. Each CubeSat will be built with different payloads, such as cameras, sensors and scientific equipment. MYSAT-1 is the program’s first satellite, design of which began with the first cohort of students from the space concentration in August 2015. It has been built with a camera and will also test a novel lithium-ion battery designed and developed at Masdar Institute.

“We are proud to be part of this innovative collaboration with Yahsat and Masdar Institute. For the past two years our subject matter experts have worked with the students and faculty of Masdar Institute and we have been very impressed with the enthusiasm and capabilities they have brought to the program. With the opening of the Yahsat Space Laboratory we look forward to the next phase of the program that will culminate with the launching of the MYSAT-1 CubeSat,” said Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group.

The lab also stands as an example of industry-academic collaboration to enable knowledge transfer in pursuit of home-grown expertise in advanced technologies. As per the collaboration agreement between MI and Yahsat, the satellite company provides expert guidance and opportunities for MI’s space concentration students. Orbital ATK serves as the ‘subject matter expert’, providing testing facilities and facilitating the launch of miniature satellites developed through the program.

European Satellite Hub Construction Started by Airbus

With the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone for the new Integrated Technology Centre (ITC), Airbus marks the commencement of the intensive construction phase for its new 43 million euros satellite hub.

The ultra-modern building, for the development and integration of satellites, will enable the Friedrichshafen site to handle future satellite requirements. The ITC, featuring complex technology and equipment, that are unique in Europe, enables various cleanroom classes in the central integration hall and is set to be built in record time. Plans call for the structure to be “enclosed” and interior work to begin in just six months. The center is to begin operations in late summer 2018, and at full capacity up to eight large satellites will be able to be integrated simultaneously.

At the heart of the four-story Integrated Technology Centre, which will have a partial basement and a footprint of 45,730 sq. ft. (4,250 m²), is a central cleanroom for the development and construction of satellites. With dimensions of around 70 x 60 meters and a roof height of 20 meters, the building will expand the site’s current satellite integration capabilities. The new ‘dual’ complex enables more efficient and cost-effective project execution and, in addition to leading-edge technology, also offers new possibilities for acquiring future space projects. Over 21,520 sq. ft. (2,000 m²) in size, the central integration hall of the new structure enables the simultaneous construction of up to eight large satellites and integration of complex subsystems and payloads. This area can be operated in cleanroom classes ISO 5 to ISO 8 without the need for partitioning into separate rooms that is otherwise standard procedure.

The two other wings of the building provide a further 1,000 m2 of integration and laboratory space for component manufacturing, and include a large visitor area and technical areas. The transitional area to the existing integration building will contain material and employee airlocks as well as goods receipt control. The sophisticated, high-tech ventilation system of the building, unique in Europe, will enable particle reduction and help to prevent molecular contamination. The unique configuration of the ventilation system cuts operating costs by up to 70 percent compared to conventional system technology and enables cleanroom classes to be flexibly configured within the available space.

NASA Telescope arrives in Texas after Leaving Maryland Cleanroom

The James Webb Space Telescope is pushed into the cleanroom of Building 32. Building 32 houses Chamber A, the thermal vacuum chamber where the telescope will have its final thermal vacuum testing.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where it will undergo its last cryogenic test before it is launched into space in 2018.

The telescope was loaded onto a trailer truck from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and moved slowly down a highway by the Webb team to U.S. Air Force’s Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. At Andrews, the telescope was then loaded onto a C-5 aircraft and flown to Ellington Field in Houston, Texas.

When the C-5 landed at Ellington, the telescope was carefully unloaded and delivered to NASA Johnson. In the coming weeks, the telescope will be prepared for a final cryogenic test that will run approximately 100 days. Then, it will continue its journey to Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California, for final integration and testing with the remainder of the Webb Observatory — the sunshield and spacecraft bus — prior to launch.

To ensure the telescope's optics will operate at its frigid destination 1 million miles out in space, it must complete several cryogenic tests. The last cryogenic test will occur in Johnson's Chamber A, the same vacuum chamber where the Apollo spacecraft were tested. This critical end-to-end optical test will test the telescope at its extremely cold operating temperatures — at 40 Kelvin — the temperature that it will operate in space.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s most advanced space observatory. This engineering marvel is designed to unravel some of the greatest mysteries of the universe, from discovering the first stars and galaxies that formed after the big bang to studying the atmospheres of planets around other stars. It is a joint project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency), and the Canadian Space Agency, and was assembled in a Class 10,000 cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Source: NASA

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