ISRO Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment
ISRO Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment is an integrated satellite testing facility established under the aegis of ISRO Satellite Center by Indian Space Research Organisation in 2006. Started with an area of 1000 sq ft. at the time when the Aryabhatta satellite was launched, the testing facility is spread over 100-acre and can integrate and test six satellites of the INSAT class at different stages simultaneously: 2 communications, 2 remote sensing and 2 foreign satellites. The investment on the facility is so far about Rs 220 crore and ISRO plans to make a further investment of Rs 100 crore. The facility has also carried out vibration and acoustic tests of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft.
Facilities
The establishment houses four facilities:- Assembly, integration & test clean room - A clean room is of the size of 55x34 metre and with a height of 60 metre, has the capacity to build satellites of 6.5 metre height integrating at least 800 elements. The complete airlock chamber will have temperatures ranging from 1 degree C to 22 degree C and the cleanliness level is 1 lakh class.The AIT has an Electro static discharge floor to drive away static charges from human body.
- Comprehensive assembly & test vacuum chamber - It can simulate conditions in space. CATVAC will test the working performance and the balance testing
- Comprehensive assembly and test vibration facility - A vibration facility which can produce vibrations similar to those that occur during actual launch of spacecraft. The capacity of vibration facility is 29 tons.
- Compact antenna test facility - It is a fully automated chamber for spacecraft and antenna testing that will ensure the increasingly travelled path of the radio frequency energy to find out if the antenna is going to cover the geographical location or not.
- ISITE Acoustic Test Facility - This facility was designed and commissioned by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, for ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, on 7 April 2011. A 1500 Cu.m. Isolated Reverberation Chamber, which can qualify satellites up to 156 dB in Nitrogen atmosphere, is the largest and one-of-its kind in India. This facility will be used to perform qualification and acceptance acoustic tests of ISRO’s satellites. Prior to this, acoustic tests on satellites were conducted at the ISRO-NAL Acoustic Test Facility located at CSIR-NAL campus. It has its own control room, data room, ground checkout room, air-lock area and air handling units.
- Space Science Instrumentation Facility - It is involved in scientific research and instrumentation, in the areas of astronomy and astrophysics, solar physics, planetary science, and space weather. In addition to this, SSIF is set up to assist external colleges, universities and institutions in the design, development and realization of space-worthy science payloads.
Salient Features of the Acoustic Test Facility:
- The 1500 Cu. m Reverberation Chamber is made of 500mm thick concrete wall with very close dimensional tolerances
- A Helical spring system to carry out modal tests and to minimize vibration transmission to nearby integration area;
- A 175 sq meter air-lock area with 20 ton EOT
- Oxygen sensors with interlocks and alarms
- Adequate clean atmosphere of 100,000 class with AC