Our Spaces

CU Aerospace Laboratories

Our laboratory facilities are accompanied by a wide range of equipment, diagnostics, vacuum chambers, and chemical processing hardware. A machine shop equipped with lathes and a Computer Numerical Control milling machine (CNC-mill) that is used to produce parts with high precision and efficiency, enables CUA’s ability to fabricate hardware in-house for rapid prototype testing. Additionally, CUA has facilities use agreements in place with some specialized University of Illinois laboratories that can be accessed with scheduled availability.

Laboratory Floor Space

3,400 sq ft

Cleanroom Floor Space

300 sq ft

Explore Laboratories and Facilities

CUA's facilities house equipment to develop, test and manufacture our aerospace products in a quality controlled, NSF-ISR AS9100 certified, contaminant-free (level ISO 6) environment that is required for space-ready systems.

Certified high level particulate filtration

Cleanroom

For its spacecraft and spacecraft subsystem assembly programs, CUA has a 300 sq. ft. facility certified as ISO 6 (Class 1,000) which is one of the highest levels of certification- consistent with manufacturing standards of aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and electronics.

This certification level of cleaning needs to be performed under strict guidelines to prevent recontamination. Special air purification and control measures are used to ensure constant flow of particle-free air. Strict protocols and high-level filtration systems ensure the integrity of the process.

Pressure and Thrust Measurement

Electric Propulsion Laboratory

The CUA facilities provide the necessary pumping capacity, calibrated laboratory diagnostics, and analysis capabilities for micropropulsion efforts. Program specific hardware can be added to the systems already in place. A 0.8 m3 vacuum tank is CUA’s largest of 5 vacuum tanks.

A turbomolecular pump backed by a mechanical pumping system allow chamber pressures on the order of 1 micro-Torr. An advanced Watts pendulum thrust stand is placed into this vacuum chamber and has been well characterized with ± 2% accuracy in the milli-Newton continuous thrust range and 8 micro-Newton-s impulse bit capability. A modern LabView system is installed and utilized for data acquisition and thrust stand damping. The laboratory has various power supplies, pressure sensors, flow meters, and controllers for propellant feed and space environment characterization.

Plasma Systems Laboratory

CUA’s plasma systems laboratory facilities enable the ability to perform experimental efforts completely in-house. The company has a wide variety of plasma discharge equipment, diagnostics (electronic and optical), multi-kW power supplies, as well as vacuum tanks and systems for sub-atmospheric plasma testing.

A modern LabView system is installed and utilized for data acquisition. Additionally, the laboratory has pressure sensors, flow meters, and controllers for propellant feed and environmental characterization.

Robust Computing Power

Computational Facilities

CUA has two in-house cluster machines (64-core and 144-core/288-thread) for its high-performance computing (HPC) needs.

Our computing capability is likely to grow as the company does.