DRAGO passes its tests for launch into space

DRAGO instrument with thermocouples for temperature measurement during tests in the thermo-vacuum chamber. Image taken at the INTA (National Institute for Aerospace Technology) Testing Area facilities. Credit: Alba Peláez (IAC).
DRAGO instrument with thermocouples for temperature measurement during tests in the thermo-vacuum chamber. Image taken at the INTA (National Institute for Aerospace Technology) Testing Area facilities. Credit: Alba Peláez (IAC).
Advertised on
Authors
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH UNIT

The flight model for the SWIR DRAGO camera, developed by the IACTEC-Space team at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has successfully passed all the tests needed to be integrable into the ION satellite for launch into space next December, on SPACE-X’s FALCON 9 rocket. This project is a part of IACTEC, the area of technical and industrial collaboration of the IAC, which is supported financially (Capacitation programme) and in infrastructure (IACTEC building) by the Cabildo Insular (island government) of Tenerife.

Accepting DRAGO, prior to launch, has required rigorous environmental tests to prove its capacity to support the severe conditions it will meet during launch and on orbit.

“Among the set of these environmental tests are vibration tests, thermal cycles, and optical tests which have been carried out during several weeks at the installations of the National Aerospace Institute (INTA) in Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, and shock tests performed by the Centre for Aeronautical Technology in Álava”, explains Alfonso Ynigo, systems engineer at IACTEC-Space.

DRAGO, the first instrument totally developed in IACTEC-Space, is a camera which will observe in the short wavelength infrared (SWIR), between 1.1 and 1.6 microns.

“The design, fabrication and tests, both at the IAC and in the other installations, have needed two years’ hard work in which the support of the Cabildo Insular of Tenerife, within the programme TFINNOVA 2016-2021, of the Strategic Framework for Island Development (MEDI), and of the Canary Development Fund”, states José Alonso, the manager of IACTEC-Space.

Image of the DRAGO instrument during crash tests at the CTA (Aeronautical Technology Center) facilities. Credit: Samuel Sordo (IAC).
Image of the DRAGO instrument during crash tests at the CTA (Aeronautical Technology Center) facilities. Credit: Samuel Sordo (IAC).

 

Image of the DRAGO instrument inside the thermo-vacuum chamber. Image taken at the INTA (National Institute for Aerospace Technology) Testing Area facilities. Credit: Samuel Sordo (IAC).
Image of the DRAGO instrument inside the thermo-vacuum chamber. Image taken at the INTA (National Institute for Aerospace Technology) Testing Area facilities. Credit: Samuel Sordo (IAC).

 

Image of the DRAGO instrument during vibration tests at the INTA (National Institute of Aerospace Technology) Test Area facilities. Credit: Samuel Sordo (IAC).
Image of the DRAGO instrument during vibration tests at the INTA (National Institute of Aerospace Technology) Test Area facilities. Credit: Samuel Sordo (IAC).

 

Tests videos:

- Qualification tests of the DRAGO instrument against sinusoidal vibrations in one of the three axes: https://youtu.be/rFv4-Fu1RtQ

- Qualification tests of the DRAGO instrument against sinusoidal vibrations in one of the three axes: https://youtu.be/k04Cn9TK2A8

- DRAGO instrument qualification tests against shocks in one of the three axes: https://youtu.be/1g73ZtKbqtM

Related projects
Satellite image of the Canary Islands taken by DRAGO-1
IACTEC Space
Development of optical payloads for micro-satellites for Earth observation from low orbits.
Alejandro
Oscoz Abad
In progress
Related news
Image of the ION SCV LAURENTIUS satellite platform, where the DRAGO instrument will be integrated. Credit: D-Orbit.
Press release
Agreement with D-Orbit to integrate DRAGO in the ION satellite
The IACTEC-Space programme of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has signed an agreement with the Italian space tranporting company D-Orbit to integrate the payload of the DRAGO instrument into the ION Satellite Carrier. The aim of this project is to carry out in-orbit demonstration (IOD) operations during the next PULSE misión, which will take place in January 2021. The programme is carried out within IACTEC, the zone of technical and business collaboration of the IAC which is funded (Programme of Training) and infrastructure (IACTEC building) by the Cabildo Insular of Tenerife.
Advertised on
News type
Press release
Scope
IACTEC
Outreach
Outreach
Observing tools
Technology
General public
Scientists
Technologists
Communications media
Infrared instrumentation
Space instrumentation
IACTEC
DRAGO
INTA
CTA

It may interest you

  • La secretaria general de investigación del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Eva Ortega Paíno, ha presidido esta la reunión del Consejo Rector / Inés Bonet
    Press release
    El Consejo Rector del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias propone a Eva Villaver Sobrino como nueva subdirectora del centro
    La secretaria general de investigación del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Eva Ortega Paíno, ha presidido esta mañana la reunión del Consejo Rector del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) donde se ha propuesto por unanimidad a la astrofísica Eva Villaver Sobrino como subdirectora del centro. Esta decisión es inmediatamente trasladada a la Subsecretaría de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, para proponer que se adjudique en estos términos la correspondiente convocatoria de libre designación del puesto de Subdirectora del IAC. Además de la secretaria general, a esta
    Advertised on
  • The Mercator telescope and the new domes of the Marvel instrument / IAC
    Press release
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and the KU Leuven reneu their framework of cooperation
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the KU Leuven , Belgium, have amplified their framework of collaboration in astrophysical research. The two institutions have signed an agreement which gives continuity to the operations of the Mercator Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), which started in 2002, and whose work will be strengthened by the installation of a new instrument called MARVEL (Mercator Array for Radial Velocities). Mercator is a semi-robotic telescope with a 1.2 metre primary mirror. Its name comes from that of the famous Flemish cartographer
    Advertised on
  • The director of IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet and the team of engineers of the European Solar Telescope, alongside the international panel of reviewers with the telescope model, during the evaluation in Tenerife. / Inés Bonet (IAC)
    Press release
    The European Solar Telescope project under review by an international team of experts
    The IACTEC headquarters has recently hosted the meeting between the engineering team behind the future European Solar Telescope and an international panel composed of some of the world's leading experts in the development of large telescopes and solar observation instrumentation. It is common for major scientific projects to undergo this type of scrutiny during their development as a way to independently verify their quality and viability. The evaluation process began over a month ago with the submission of all the design documentation to the reviewers. In this case, the evaluation focused
    Advertised on