UK’s RAL Space builds giant sat test chamber
July 25, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Oxfordshire, UK-based RAL Space, which has a reputation for carrying out world-class science research and technology development in space-related missions, is building a giant vacuum test chamber for satellites.
RAL Space, the newish name for the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, has some 335 skilled engineers working at the Harwell Campus in Didcot, Oxfordshire. It is a member of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and one of seven research councils in the UK
RAL Space already has Clean Rooms, Test Facilities, Ground Stations and other high-end test facilities.
RAL Space has introduced a new thermal vacuum chamber for testing satellites — the largest in the UK. The bespoke vacuum chamber is part of RAL Space’s National Satellite Test Facility, which is the first of its kind in the UK to enable larger and more complex spacecraft to be tested. It will be used to simulate the extreme vacuum and thermal conditions encountered in space, and consists of a 7×12 metre cylindrical vacuum vessel lined with temperature-controlled panels.
When fully completed, the National Satellite Test Facility will provide the UK space sector with all the major testing facilities they need under one roof.