Electronics Support Facility

Surface Treatment and Thermal Painting Facility

Space Applications Centre (SAC) has developed electroplating and electroless plating processes for space hardware to achieve required surface engineering properties like Electrical conductivity, Non-conductivity, Corrosion protection, Solderability, EMI/EMC, Emissivity etc. and making them a good base for Thermal Control Coatings. These processes are qualified for space use with very tight tolerances after subjecting to various tests like visual inspection, adhesion test, environmental tests, and engineering property specific tests confirming to ASTM and MIL standards. SAC invites industry to come forward and take up the technology for know – how or technical consultancy.

Electronics components can work as per specifications only in a limited temperature range (0 to 40 ºC). Satellites orbiting the earth are subjected to extreme temperature variation similar to lunar daytime temperature approaching +130 ºC and night time temperature falling to -110 ºC. In space, the operating temperature of a satellite is determined by the heat from the sun, the reflected solar energy from the earth, the deep space temperature, the internal heat generated by the spacecraft and by the emittance and absorptance of spacecraft coatings.

So, to keep the thermal balance of the satellite, thermal control coatings are used and these coatings for space use have good emissivity, absorptivity and negligible Total Mass Loss and Collected Volatile Condensable Material. Space Applications Centre has qualified black and white thermal control coatings on different substrates for thermal balance of the satellites.

Click here for details     Surface Treatment and Thermal Coating