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).
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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.
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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

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