The Institute of Experimental Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences has officially opened a new cosmic cleanroom facility designed to support the development and testing of space electronics and scientific satellite equipment.
“The space sector is advancing very dynamically. We are living in the era of the Artemis programme, when space missions are becoming a common part of our lives,” said Šimon Mackovjak, Head of the Department of Space Physics at the Institute of Experimental Physics SAS.
Located in Košice, the facility has been developed with support from the European Union-funded TIK STEPHANIK and SAV OPEN LABS projects.
Processes carried out within the facility will comply with European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) standards used across the European space industry.
The new cleanroom has an ISO Class 7 air cleanliness classification and has been designed to meet the stringent environmental and electrostatic discharge requirements needed for space hardware development.
The cleanroom will allow the organisation to participate in more advanced projects with the European Space Agency while conducting critical development and testing stages in-house.
The facility will be used for the integration and verification of sensitive electronics intended for long-term operation in extreme space environments, where contamination control and stable atmospheric conditions are essential to minimise the risk of component failure.
Part of the capacity of the cleanroom is reserved for joint scientific and technological projects, while another part is available for commercial rental.
This mixed use of the infrastructure will ensure not only the transfer of technologies into practice, but also its economic sustainability.
The public was also invited to learn more about the facility during a SPACE::TALK meetup event held alongside the opening ceremony.