IRF SpaceLab – a Swedish opening research infrastructure to support space and planetary exploration

Building on more than 60 years of success in experimental space research, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) has developed a comprehensive test, qualification, and calibration infrastructure known as IRF SpaceLab. This facility supports space hardware development and manufacturing. IRF SpaceLab includes the following capabilities:

• Co-60 Irradiation Facility: Provides dose rates ranging from 1 kR over 3.5 days to 1 kR in 5 hours, depending on the distance to the source. These moderate dose rates make the facility ideal for realistic radiation testing of space hardware.
• Radioactive Isotope Collection: Features a wide array of isotopes for detector characterization, including Co-60, Cs-137, Ni-63, H-3, Ba-133, and Ra-226.
• Thermal-Vacuum Chambers: Offers three chambers designed for testing hardware at different scales: board level, instrument level (<50 cm), and nano/micro-satellite scale (<1 m). The latter chamber is equipped with an LN2-cooled shroud and solar flux simulators, suitable for thermal balance tests.
• Shaker (35 kN): Capable of mechanical testing of objects up to 100 kg in a clean environment.
• Ion (+/-), Neutral, and Electron Beam Facility: Operates within an energy range of 50 eV to 50 keV and includes a 4-degree-of-freedom turntable.
• Particle-Surface Interaction Facility: Designed for surface characterization, particularly for surface-based ion mass analyzers.

One of the key advantages of the IRF SpaceLab is the integration of these diverse facilities within a single premises operated under a small research institute environment. This setup minimizes formalities and administrative overhead. IRF SpaceLab is open to external users to support space and planetary exploration initiatives (https://spacelab.irf.se/).