NEC Starts Operation of Satellite Integration
Center
NEC has begun operations at its new Satellite Integration Center. Recently constructed on the site of the Fuchu
Plant in a suburb of Tokyo, the new Center will assemble, evaluate and test satellites (Photo 1). With existing
production facilities at the Fuchu Plant and Sagamihara
Plant already capable of assembling up to four satellites,
the launch of the new Satellite Integration Center enables
NEC to assemble as many as eight satellites at the same
time. Thanks to the provision of evaluation/testing equipment that accommodates the manufacture of large-scale
satellites, the new facility has made possible the establishment of a full-scale integrated in-house production
system.
Housed in a structure standing 50 meters tall with an
area of about 9,900 square meters, the Satellite Integration Center features two-story satellite assembly rooms
(high-bay) with an interior height of about 20 meters and
a clean environment to ensure high quality is maintained
at all times. It is also equipped with advanced vibration,
acoustic, and thermal vacuum testing equipment applicable to large-scale satellites. Built to withstand earthquakes exceeding level 6 on Japan’s seven-stage seismic
scale, this facility has been designed to ensure that it can
continue operations even in the event of a disaster.
The Satellite Integration Center is located in the immediate proximity of the existing satellite production/testing
area at the Fuchu Plant. The fact that all operations ranging from the production/testing of equipment to the assembly of satellites, as well as comprehensive electrical
tests and environmental tests, can now be implemented
at the same plant will help improve production capability
while contributing to a dramatic improvement of production efficiency. Now that NEC has its own testing equipment, which it previously had to borrow from its clients,
NEC has the flexibility to address the needs of overseas
clients, giving it the opportunity to expand its space business globally.
Sending reliable quality to outer space
Because satellites in operation in outer space cannot be
repaired once they have been launched, extremely high
reliability is required. At the Satellite Integration Center,
our testing systems allow us to simulate the acoustic and
vibration environment experienced during launch and the
thermal vacuum environment of outer space, ensuring
that our satellites have the quality and reliability essential
for operation in space.
Thermal vacuum testing equipment
In the vacuum of space, satellites are exposed to an
environment where there is a temperature difference of
over 250°C, with temperatures exceeding 100°C in areas
exposed to sunlight and below –150°C where the sun is
blocked. This means that satellites must be designed to
maintain internal electronic components within the appropriate temperature ranges. In the center’s large-scale
space chamber, which measures 8 meters in diameter and
12 meters in depth, thermal vacuum testing is conducted
Photo 1 Exterior view of Satellite Integration Center.
138　NEC Technical Journal／Vol.9 No.1／Special Issue on Solutions for Society - Creating a Safer and More Secure Society
in a simulated space environment to determine whether
or not a satellite functions correctly in accordance with
its design. During testing; the temperature of the interior
wall is changed from an ultra-low temperature environment of below 173°C to a high-temperature environment
of about 90°C by pumping liquid nitrogen or nitrogen
gas through partitions in the chamber. A high-vacuum
environment is also created by using a vacuum pump to
simulate the actual environment of outer space.
Checking the performance of optical equipment that
will be deployed on board an earth observation satellite
requires special care as even minute vibrations transmitted from the peripheral environment can affect the measurements. To prevent this, a special mechanism to eliminate these vibrations is added to the frame in the largescale space chamber (Photo 2) in which the satellite and
testing equipment are placed, making it possible to test
even extremely high-precision optical equipment.
by various rockets made in and outside Japan.
Acoustic testing equipment
The sound generated by a rocket engine during the
launching of a satellite is extremely loud, and a satellite
needs to be able to withstand sound up to about 140 dB.
Our acoustic testing equipment is the most powerful
available in Japan and is capable of reproduction of
sound pressure of up to 151 dB.
NEC’s space solution
In addition to being able to withstand the tremendous
noise produced by a rocket during launch, the satellite
must also be able to endure the enormous vibrations that
accompany the launching process. In vibration testing, a
vibration environment that simulates the launch environment is reproduced in the space chamber to check that
the airframe functions correctly after the excitation of
vibration.
Capable of accommodating an 8-ton class satellite, this
vibration testing equipment features vibration excitation
frequencies of 5 to 2,000 Hz, enabling it to accurately
reproduce the different vibration environments produced
NEC has managed the integration of sixty-seven satellites, including Osumi, Japan’s first satellite, which was
launched in 1970 and the Hayabusa space probe, which
successfully returned samples from the Itokawa asteroid.
With the Satellite Integration Center now in operation,
NEC boasts the fully integrated production systems for
NEC’s advanced standard satellite bus, the NEXTAR Series (Fig.).
Satellites are a form of infrastructure not affected by
disasters on earth. They also feature the ability to simultaneously observe a wide range from their vantage point
in orbit, to connect extensive areas, and to transmit information simultaneously to many people. NEC’s space
business processes and analyzes various data from satellites and contributes to solving problems here on earth
by offering the results to users via IT networks. By effectively combining the earth observation satellite’s function
to “see,” the navigation satellite’s function to precisely
“measure,” and the communications satellite’s function
to “distribute” information, NEC is able to provide space
Photo 2 Large-scale space chamber.
Fig. NEXTAR - NEC’s standard satellite system.
Vibration testing equipment
NEC Technical Journal／Vol.9 No.1／Special Issue on Solutions for Society - Creating a Safer and More Secure Society　139
solutions to a wide variety of fields including disaster
surveillance, environment surveillance, agriculture/fishery support, car navigation, and satellite broadcasting.
NEC is committed to pursuing a more prosperous
future for humanity and for the planet, a future we believe can be better supported by exploiting the benefits
of space exploration. To this end, NEC will continue to
work towards achieving social and economic benefits
using the highly reliable, leading-edge technology made
possible by Japan’s space development.
*NEXTAR : NEC Next Generation Star
Drawing on the know-how and expertise that we have accumulated
over the past several decades, our standard bus system for small satellites enables us to produce high-performance satellites at low cost in
short periods of time. The bus features inter-satellite communications
fully compliant with the SpaceWire standard and standardization of all
onboard computers using SpaceCube2.
140　NEC Technical Journal／Vol.9 No.1／Special Issue on Solutions for Society - Creating a Safer and More Secure Society
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Vol.9 No.1 Special Issue on Solutions for Society - Creating a Safer and More Secure Society
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