Vibration testing
DEVELOPING A NATIONAL
SATELLITE TESTING CAPABILITY
A major new national satellite testing facility in the UK is to receive vibration
testing equipment from one of the aerospace sector’s leading suppliers
// KEVIN W. MCINTOSH AND THOMAS REILLY
Contracts worth £19 million
(US$24 million) have been awarded
for the first of the major facilities for
the UK’s National Satellite Test Facility
which is to be built and operated by the
Science and Technology Facilities Council’s
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on behalf
of the UK government.
The contracts are the first steps in
meeting the UK space industry’s need for a
set of co-located world-class facilities for
environmental testing of space payloads
and satellites. Data Physics and Team
Corporation will supply the vibration
facility and two other contractors will
supply the large space test chamber, and
the combined electromagnetic
compatibility (EMC) and antenna
measurement system.
Satellite test facilities at this scale in one
location do not currently exist in the UK.
Once operational in 2022, the National
Satellite Test Facility (NSTF) will provide
the space sector across the UK with all the
major testing facilities they need under
one roof, without incurring expensive
international shipping costs.
Construction of the building is planned
to run through to the spring of 2021.
RAL Space is an integral part of Science
and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC)
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in
Oxfordshire, UK. RAL Space carries out
world-class space research and technology
88 SHOWCASE 2020 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
1 // The Data Physics 900
Series Vibration Controllers
can also be used for signal
analysis with the
addition of SignalCalc
Analysis software
1
development with involvement in over 210
space missions.
SYSTEM DETAILS
The vibration facility will be capable of
testing satellites of over seven tons using
two Data Physics SignalForce LE-5022-3
water cooled electrodynamic shakers.
To realistically simulate the mechanical
loads experienced during a rocket launch,
one shaker will operate in the vertical
plane (Z axis), while the other will operate
horizontally (X and Y axes). Each shaker is
capable of developing up to 50,000 lbf
(222kN) of force and has up to 3in (76.2
mm) peak-peak displacement. One of the
key features of the LE-5022-3 is the use of
dual hydrostatic bearings for axial
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