The capability of Thailand’s Satellite Assembly Integration and Testing Center

Did you know that Thailand now has a large cleanroom for assembling and testing satellites for launch into space, where Thai engineers are developing the country's latest satellite?

   This place is the Satellite Assembly Integration and Testing Center, or AIT, located in the Space Innovation Park of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, or GISTDA, Sriracha District, Chonburi Province.

   AIT is one of the country's aviation and space industry infrastructures. It is a place for developing, assembling, and testing satellite parts weighing up to 500 kilograms through equipment that simulates the space environment in various forms, including...

1. Vibration Testing: This device can simulate vibrations that often occur during rocket launches into space, to ensure that the satellite's structure is strong enough and can withstand vibrations during launch. The equipment in GISTDA's AIT can simulate a variety of vibration patterns, including the satellite's mounting position in different directions.
2. Thermal Cycling Testing: This device tests temperature changes in space, where satellites experience scorching heat in the sunlight and coldness when in the Earth's shadow. Satellites in Low Earth Orbit experience hot-cold temperature fluctuation in space up to 16 times per day.
3. Thermal Vacuum Testing: This device builds on Thermal Cycling Testing to simulate the space conditions that satellites face, including temperature changes, along with removing air to create a vacuum inside the test equipment. Engineers can check the satellite's heat transfer capabilities, the deployment of equipment in a simulated environment, and the outgassing of materials in a vacuum, which can affect the operation of equipment on the satellite.
4. Mass Property Testing: This device is use for testing the satellite's mass, including finding the center of gravity by using weights to counter balance, and checking the satellite's moment of inertia through equipment to measure torque to accelerate or decelerate, which is useful for installation onto the launch rocket, as well as for controlling the satellite's orientation when performing actual missions in space.

   GISTDA's Satellite Assembly Integration and Testing Center is a place for testing the THEOS-2A satellite. GISTDA's satellite engineers have jointly developed and received knowledge transfer from experts in the United Kingdom to pass on and develop Thailand's space industry and personnel, including initiating the engineering model of the THEOS-3 satellite.

   At the same time, GISTDA has also provided opportunities for Thai youth to try assembling satellites under the School Satellite Competition project at the Satellite Assembly Integration and Testing Center. This competition is to find Thai youth representatives to develop CubeSat satellites for actual launch.

   Moreover, GISTDA also provides AIT services for use by government agencies, such as testing the TSC-1 satellite under the Thai Space Consortium or testing the TU-1 satellite by the Royal Thai Air Force's Aviation Science and Technology Research and Development Center.

   In addition, GISTDA also provides AIT services for the Thai private sector, such as testing equipment materials by Siam Compressor Industry Co., Ltd., as well as testing by PTT Public Company Limited, and also providing services to Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, to test a satellite called 'ELITE' (Extremely Low Earth Imaging Technology Explorer) before launching into space, as well as other agencies in the space industry that can use AIT services in the future.

   The Satellite Assembly Integration and Testing Center is a modern testing facility that meets international standards, with GISTDA engineers who have been directly trained in satellite assembly and testing, ready to provide comprehensive testing operations and transfer in-depth space engineering knowledge to personnel within the country, serving as an important foundation to jointly develop and drive the Thai space industry sustainably.

   GISTDA is committed to continuously developing the Thai space industry. The Satellite Assembly Integration and Testing Center is one of the country's aviation and space industry infrastructures, bridging gaps in Thailand's space ecosystem and providing opportunities for young people interested in space careers to jointly drive the country and bring value from space to develop benefits for the wider society.