Services

AI&T Services

Spacecraft Integration and Test

We provide hands-on integration and test support to ensure that all spacecraft components and subsystems operate together as designed and fulfill the mission requirements.  Our direct I&T engineering services include:

• AI&T Planning – We develop rigorous integration and test plans for projects, accounting for every installation operation and every required test. We work with our customers’ constraints to ensure that our AI&T plans can be executed in a timely and efficient manner.
• Complete System Testing and Module Integration – We test all components of a system individually before beginning the integration process. During integration, we also perform a Safe-to-Mate test by checking all corresponding terminals for alignment and expected parameters such as voltage, current, and resistance.
• Performance Verification – We design and carry out tests to ensure that the systems support all intended functionality and perform the duties required by the mission.
• Test Conductor Support – We provide personnel to facilitate the development and execution of tests, including the production of automated test scripts.
• I&T Electrical Technician Support – We provide capable technicians to support operations such as safe-to-mate testing, electrical integration of flight hardware, and EGSE configuration and operation.

Environmental Testing

We provide hands-on support during the critical environmental tests that ensure a satellite payload can survive the harsh conditions of space, including:

• Thermal Vacuum Testing – The payload is placed into a thermal vacuum chamber that simulates the temperature and atmospheric conditions of space. This test can take days or weeks at a time, and it cannot be interrupted, requiring around-the-clock testing support to ensure the integrity of the testing conditions and the hardware.
• Dynamics, Vibration, and Acoustics Testing – The payload is put through multiple dynamics tests in separate facilities that each demonstrate an aspect of the forces applied to the payload during launch.
• Electromagnetic Interference and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMI/EMC) Testing – The payload is subjected to electromagnetic forces typical for its destination orbit to characterize the expected interference and ensure that it does not interfere with operations.
• Post-environmental testing – After environmental testing, functional and performance testing is repeated at ambient conditions to ensure that the environmental testing did not affect the nominal operation of the payload.

Launch Site and Mission Operations

Our job doesn’t end at the assembly and testing facilities – we also offer full support of launch and post-launch operations, including:

• Post-Ship Testing – Testing is performed to ensure that no damage was sustained in transportation before launch vehicle integration can take place.
• Launch Site Integration – The satellite is integrated to the launch vehicle in direct preparation for launch commissioning and the beginning of operations.
• Launch Support and Operations – We leverage the particular experience that we develop from supporting a project through AI&T in order to continue to provide expert support before, during, and after launch.

Other Engineering Services

Electronics Design and Fabrication

We design and manufacture custom electronics to support the development of satellite hardware and ground support equipment, including:

• EGSE Racks – We design self-contained server racks to house ground support equipment, including power supplies, satellite simulators, and MGSE control units.
  Cables and Harnesses – We design electrical cabling, ranging from simple adapter cables to full-satellite harnessing.
• Printed Circuit Boards – We design print-to-order, spaceflight qualifiable circuit boards for bespoke satellite and ground support applications.
• Flight Electronics Boxes – We design the electronic subsystems that support a satellite’s mission-critical operations, including flight avionics, command and data handling, and thermal control.

We also offer a line of commercial products, including Break-out Boxes, Harnesses, and PCBs.

Thermal Design

We provide design support for the critical thermal components necessary to keep sensitive satellite electronics safe from the vacuum of space.  Our thermal design services include:

• Multi-Phase Heat Transfer Components – We design thermal components that produce and distribute heat across a satellite’s chassis, including thermistors, heaters, and loop heat pipes.
• Thermal Blanketing – We design tailored thermal blankets to insulate spacecraft electronics from the frozen vacuum of space.

Systems Analysis

We provide analytical support to ensure the efficacy of our customers’ critical payload and support systems and minimize risk.  If our analysis discovers a matter of concern, we work with our customers to ensure that those concerns are addressed at the design level.  Our analytical services include:

• Electrical Analysis – We analyze a system’s power requirements, load distribution, and tolerance for the expected electrical interference.
• Communications Analysis – We model uplink/downlink conditions for a given spacecraft and orbit pattern to ensure that throughput is sufficient to receive telemetry and mission-critical data, as well as to supply commands to the craft.
• Radiation Effects Analysis – We examine the effects of electromagnetic radiation on a system’s individual electrical components to extrapolate their effects on the system as a whole.
• Thermal Analysis – We model the heat distribution throughout a system to ensure that critical hardware stays at operational temperatures.

Facilities Development

We provide design consulting services for I&T facilities development, taking all engineering concerns into account when planning out a lab space for your hardware. Our facility design services include:

• Cleanrooms – We design cleanroom spaces that reduce the risks of working with highly sensitive flight hardware, with special considerations for air flow, particle monitoring, gowning and de-gowning areas, and clean tent areas with even more stringent particle requirements.
• Environmental Test Facilities – We design test facilities for the special environmental conditions that flight hardware will undergo during launch and in the vacuum of space, including Electromagnetic Interference/Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMI/EMC), Dynamics, Vibration, and Acoustics, and Thermal Vacuum facilities.