The IEEC coordinates two of the five winning projects of the CERCA Ginys call for funding
The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) has obtained funding to develop two technological equipment in collaboration with the Institute for High Energy Physics (IFAE) and the i2CAT Foundation through the call CERCA Ginys III of the CERCA Institution. Launched at the end of last year, this call aims to enable the various research centres in Catalonia to collaborate in the development of scientific infrastructures through the acquisition of equipment and infrastructures for cooperative use.
Specifically, the projects coordinated by the IEEC will receive 420,000 € of the slightly more than one million of the total call. Both facilities, described below, are expected to be operational early next year.
Thermal vacuum chamber for in-orbit demonstrators and instrumentation testing
On the one hand, the IEEC leads a proposal in collaboration with the IFAE that aims to develop a laboratory with a thermal vacuum chamber for microsatellites, in-orbit technology demonstrators and instrumentation testing.
This equipment, which makes it possible to emulate space conditions in a controlled environment, will cover one of the fundamental needs of companies in the space sector in Catalonia: the validation and qualification of their technologies before putting them into orbit. More than 5 companies have already shown interest in using it during the first year of operations. The facilities will form part of the NewSpace Lab, which encompasses all the space infrastructures currently available in Catalonia.
The proposal will be cofunded by the NewSpace Strategy of Catalonia, promoted by the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
Wide field fast telescope
On the other hand, the IEEC will coordinate with the IFAE and the i2CAT Foundation the installation of a new wide field robotic telescope at the Montsec Observatory (OdM). The new telescope will take advantage of the technology already developed by the IEEC at the OdM and the data management and storage capabilities of the Scientific Information Port (PIC, IFAE).
Taking advantage of the fast response capabilities of the new telescope, as well as its wide field and the efficiency of the instrumentation, the applications of the Joan Oró telescope, also located at the OdM, will be complemented in scientific cases such as the tracking of near-Earth asteroids, or rapid transient phenomena (such as the occultation of stars by asteroids), among others. These uses will be combined with participation in space debris tracking programmes, as well as the development of an optical communications system by the i2CAT Foundation.
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