Environmental Testing Campaign: Thermal Week 2

And we’re back! Following a weekend catching up on work and exploring the Ardennes – La Roche-en-Ardenne in the sun on Saturday and Grottes De Hotton and Liège on a slightly damp and foggy Sunday, we return to thermal testing of Pathfinder. You may remember, over the weekend we left the payload powered off and …

Environmental Testing Campaign: Thermal Days 3 and 4

Hello again from the thermal testing team at the ESA CubeSat Support Facility, Belgium. After suiting up for the cleanroom again we began the day with our first functional test in vacuum. This was a Very Reduced Functional Test (VRFT) that was designed to simulate the sequence of operations PROVE will perform while in orbit. …

Environmental Testing Campaign: Thermal Days 1 and 2

Good morning from the thermal testing team of PROVE Pathfinder from ESA’s CubeSat Support Facility in Belgium! On Tuesday (11th April) we arrived on site ready to get our payload out of the oven and start our campaign. Following a safety briefing, we got into clean room attire in a process we’re becoming very familiar …

Environmental Testing Campaign: Thermal Day 0

Following on from the vibration testing of the last week, the vibrations team has been swapped for the thermal team. The last thing that the vibration team did before leaving was to put PROVE Pathfinder into an oven for a bakeout – taken to a low vacuum and held at a steady temperature for a …

Environmental Testing Campaign: Vibration Days 2-3

Following on from our last update, the team have been hard at work completing the setup for the start of the vibration testing. Days 2-3 saw the team complete their inspections and functional tests on PROVE. It was noticed that the TIR lens wasn’t fully secure, this could have been dislodged in transport or the …

Environmental Testing Campaign: Vibration Day 1

Good morning from the PROVE Pathfinder vibrations team! After a successful journey from Bristol, Pathfinder has made its way to Belgium! Today the team spent their time setting up. The morning consisted of a safety briefing and catching up with the Fly Your Satellite! colleagues that we have come to know well over the last …