SpaceLab – facilities for space instrumentation, design and qualification
The development, test and calibration of new technologies and sensors for space missions requires the accessibility of the appropriate high quality facilities.
A key to efficient use of existing test centres and optimised test procedures is to make these facilities open to external users.
Redundancy of test centres across Europe does not only imply successful, but also on time delivery of components, sensors and space instruments.
The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) has been developing scientific payload for satellite, balloon and sounding rocket missions since the 1960’s.
Over the past decades several in-house facilities have been installed and maintained at IRF in Kiruna, to test, calibrate and qualify these payloads.
The existence and performance of these test-and calibration facilities have made it possible to develop, build, and deliver high performance space instrumentation, which today consists of a fleet of very successful scientific sensors made in Kiruna.
Current facilities operated at IRF Kiruna
With space missions becoming more and more ambitious also the requirements for the payloads are changing. In addition, the available technologies for testing are continuously advancing, allowing for more efficient and accurate testing.
Therefore Spacelab will expand and modernize its test capabilities, which will help to match and master new instrument requirements arising from technological and scientific advances, and contribute to the space collective with services that, particularly in Northern Europe, are lacking to date.