Product
EIRSAT-1.
Modular Cleanroom helps create history with Ireland's first satellite.
Modular Cleanroom
Sector
Space & Aerospace
Location
Dublin, IRE
The Client
Teams of students, industry leaders and professors at University College Dublin (UCD) are currently designing, building, and preparing to launch Ireland’s very first satellite.
The EIRSAT-1 project is carried out with the support of the Education Office of the European Space Agency, under the educational Fly your Satellite! Programme.
The Challenge
Sarah Walsh, PhD student in the UCD Space Science group and Assembly Integration and Testing Technician for the EIRSAT-1 project, approached Monmouth Scientific in search of a solution to guarantee a highly clean environment in which the EIRSAT-1 team could design, assemble and test the 20cm x 10cm x 10cm satellite’s 3 payload experiments and subsystems.
EIRSAT-1 Payload Experiments
When completed, EIRSAT-1 will carry three experiments on its Low Earth Orbit of Earth, at an altitude of 400km.
- Gamma-ray Module; The Gamma-ray Module (GMOD) is a miniaturised sensor for use in the detection of gamma-rays from cosmic and atmospheric phenomena.
- ENBIO Module; The ENBIO Module (EMOD) is an experiment measuring how protective coatings perform in space. EMOD consists of two black panels and two white panels which will have their temperature monitored. In orbit around the earth in the shade it can be extremely cold (-100℃), but in direct sunlight it can get very hot (150℃) and these changes in temperature can cause problems for spacecraft. ENBIO coatings control the temperature of the spacecraft. The Solar-Black is highly absorbing and highly emitting, Solar-White is low absorbing and also highly emitting.
- Wave Based Control Module; The Wave Based Control Module (WBC) is an attitude control system. A spacecraft’s “attitude” is its orientation in space. EIRSAT-1 will use the Earth’s magnetic field to turn itself in any desired direction.
The Solution
Monmouth Scientific were thrilled to play a role in such an innovating project. Our experienced team identified our Modular Cleanroom as the ideal solution to meet the needs of EIRSAT-1 who would be assembling delicate technologies, capable of withstanding the harsh environment of space.
The unit includes a 3m x 3m Production Area, with Soft-Close Sliding Doors and LED Lighting throughout.
The high-quality system, assembled on site, is extremely adaptable, constructed from a smooth profile aluminium framework with aluminium composite and clear non-break polycarbonate created window panes.
The room also includes the CAM1000 Clean Air Module, guaranteeing a positive pressure and ISO Class 8 clean environment within the Aluminium Modular Cleanroom Production Area. The unit filters air as it enters the room through HEPA filters (99.997% efficient at 0.3 microns) before creating the positive pressure in the environment, providing up to 1000m3of HEPA filtered air, a total of 75 clean air changes per hour.
The Result
Following EIRSAT-1’s launch in December 2024, the team have continued to utilise the Cleanroom in further EIRSAT projects as well as for educational purposes, aiding UCD students to build small satellites across the university’s Space Science programmes.
The Feedback
We had a 3m x 3m Cleanroom installed for the EIRSAT-1 project. Monmouth and NSP have excelled from the initial contact, to installation and were very facilitating in terms of the timeline we required for the project.
I was present throughout the install and was really impressed by the knowledge of the engineers who talked me through everything they were doing.
It has been a pleasure to work with NSP Laboratory Solutions and Monmouth Scientific. Everything went very smoothly, and I would certainly recommend them.
Sarah Walsh – Assembly Integration and Testing Technician for EIRSAT-1.