300 degree temperature difference, radiation… Extreme Environmental Test Leads Korea's Space Industry

Weiss Technik’s thermal vacuum chamber will support development of Korea's Space Industry, enabling civil aerospace companies to reduce the time and cost for components testing The last 5 days Pearl Foreword opened Korea's first space component testing center performing space component performance testing to withstand the worst environmental USA NASA · European ESA standards to meet the test that enables KAI 's · eyien H. structures nearby businesses and expected synergies The satellite parts are placed in a 2m diameter vacuum chamber shaped like a large oven and the temperature is raised to 220 degrees Celsius. Then l ower the temperature back to minus 80 degrees. Large parts of 8 ~ 16t class are transferred to the crane and fixed on the vibration tester. To see if it ca n withstand 200 vibrations a second. Microscopes that contain more than 100,000 tiny pieces per satellite are checked for proper plating and bonding. Orbital environment test equipment such as thermal vacuum chamber, launch environment test equipment such as vibration tester and impact tester, el ectromagnetic environment test equipment… Twenty-two kinds of equipment with 22 different names are filling a two-story high building with a total are a of 4149.37㎡ (about 1255 pyeong). Specially designed space component test equipment is used to test whether components used in space launch ve hicles or satellites work properly in launch and space environments. National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA but the scene is reminiscent of the Institute) is not. This is the space parts test center that open ed in Daeju-dong, Jinju, Gyeongnam, Korea on the 5th. The JoongAng Ilbo reporter visited the site on the 7th. It is a laboratory that moves the extreme space environment to the ground and is the first facility in Korea for private companies in the space industry. In the future, we will be testing space comp onents of private companies that have been in charge of Hang Woo Yeon and KAIST . This is to meet the test demand of the domestic space industry-r elated companies, which are increasing recently. To this end, the Korea Industrial Technology Testing Institute ( KTL ), Korea Aerospace Research Instit ute, and Jinju City invested KRW 10.5 billion, KRW 1 billion, and KRW 1.6 billion, respectively, and the national budget was also supported by KRW 10 billion. The space parts test center, which was built in three years and six months with a total of 27.1 billion won, can be tested to meet the test standards of N ASA and the European Space Agency ( ESA ). Space components must withstand the worst of environments. Projectile components should function n ormally with the strong vibrations and shocks that occur during launch. Satellite components must cope with extremes of temperature in the non-atmosp here environment and temperatures of over 150 degrees Celsius and 100 degrees daily. The same is true for each of the more than 100,000 device gra de components used in a single satellite. If one small part is broken, it may not be able to use the entire satellite, which costs tens to billions of dollars. Thanks to the space component test center in Jinju, civil aerospace companies will be able to significantly reduce the time and cost of testing compone nts. For example, in the case of the thermal vacuum test, the one-time test fee was lowered from 32 million won to 22 million won. The waiting time for o rbit, launch, and electromagnetic environment tests is expected to be reduced from 45 days to 15 days. In particular, it is significant in that a framework for localization of device-class space components is prepared. Most of the device-level parts such as dio des, transistors, and resistors, which are the basics of electric and electronic devices, depend on imports. This is because localization was difficult due t o the time and cost issues when receiving test certification from overseas. KTL Director Chung Dong-hee said, “We will actively support the technology development and localization of domestic space parts SMEs and venture companies ba sed on KTL 's test evaluation know-how and technology.” We will do our best to contribute to the development and actively support the development of the national space industry. ” Globally, space development is undergoing a paradigm shift. In the past, during the New Cold War, space development, a part of the arms race, was tra nsformed into a new growth engine for private companies. Kyung-Hee Kim, head of the Space Parts Technology Center, said, “The civilian space travel, which seemed impossible just a few years ago, is approaching the near future, and companies are approaching business space development.” According to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the global aerospace market, which is worth 277 trillion won in 2018, is expected to grow to over 1100 trillion won by 2040. In comparison, Korea's aerospace industry is estimated at about KRW2.7 trillion in 2016, but the Ministry of Information and C ommunication plans to expand the domestic space industry market to about KRW3.7 trillion by 2021. In response to this, Jinju City, which started to foster 'Aerospace Industry City', was established last year as 2.17km, including the Innovation City Cluste r and Gyeongnam Aerospace National Industrial Complex, as a special research and development zone for aerospace parts and materials industry. Jinj u will focus on technology transfer and human resource development through collaboration between KTL and public research institutes such as Korea Ceramic Technology Institute, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, and Pearl Root Technology Support Center. In addition, the Aviation Electromagnetic Technology Center, which will test and evaluate domestic aviation products, will be located next to the space p arts test center. The Korea Aerospace Industries ( KAI ) headquarters in Sichuan, about 15 km away from these institutions, is developing a domestic s atellite launch vehicle. Changwon City, which is 50km away, also has Hanwha Aerospace, the nation's only aircraft engine manufacturer. Jang Soo-soo, chairman of Korea Space Technology Association, said, “With the opening of the Space Parts Testing Center, we will be able to test the space environment that meets international standards for space parts in Korea. We will be able to expand the space environment test evaluation project to emerging countries and provide test infrastructure construction consulting based on experience in operating test centers. ”

For more information on 300 degree temperature difference, radiation… Extreme Environmental Test Leads Korea's Space Industry talk to Weiss Technik UK Ltd