ESA to launch two satellites partly developed in Cork
3 Cork Supplier Corona Part Of In Is Out Landmark Semiconductor By Using Onsemi Sun’s Mission Us Setting Developed The Study The Esa To Picture: The Tech Branch Inner Proba
The European Space Agency (ESA) will kick off its landmark Proba-3 mission next week, launching two satellites into space which were in part developed by the Cork branch of US semiconductor supplier Onsemi.
The mission, which sets out to study the sun’s inner corona, was made possible by Onsemi’s silicon photomultipliers.
These sensors will allow two satellites to fly in millimetre-scale formation at a speed of 22,000 miles/hour, creating the first man-made solar eclipse.
The Proba-3 mission will deliver ultra-designed images of the region, which it says will provide critical insights into the interactions between the sun and its atmosphere and cosmic phenomena such as solar winds and coronal mass ejections.
However, observing the sun’s corona is notoriously difficult due to the sun’s brightness, which is around one million times stronger than the corona’s brightest point, blinding telescopes.
The silicon photomultipliers, which allow the satellites to fly in tandem with one another, was designed at the Cork campus of Onsemi, with lead engineer of the project, Steven Buckley joining the ESA at the launch of the satellites in Chennai, India.
Speaking on his involvement in the landmark mission, Mr Buckley told the Irish Examiner: “It’s been a seven-year slog, but its going to happen now. The hard work has paid off.”
Based between the UK and Onsemi’s Cork site, Mr Buckley has previously worked with Nasa on its launch data system for the Space Shuttle.
“That was great, but it was all on land. It was all ground-based and in the launch room. This time, something I have held will be flown into space.
“It’s great, but a lot more rigorous.”
Mr Buckley noted that while demonstrator models for the silicon multipliers, which were bought commercially, cost around €800, the final product cost exponentially more.
“Obviously, they’re not radiation hard or anything, but when it is transformed into what it needs to be to survive in space, the bill of materials rises to around €120,000. The space equivalent component is several orders of magnitude more expensive.”
Speaking of the launch, which will take place on Wednesday, December 4 in Chennai, India, Mr Buckley explained: “When the satellite goes up, they will be commissioned in space to make sure everything is working correctly for four months.
“At that point, the two satellites will align and take measurements for four hours. This will then be repeated and done over two years.”
Established in Arizona in 1999, Onsemi is a semiconductor supplier company specialising in energy-efficient electronics.
In 2018, the company acquired the Cork Design Centre of SensL Technologies. The company’s Cork branch employs around 25 people, specialising in silicon photomultipliers as well as single photon avalanche diodes.
The company also has a site in Limerick, establishing its design centre in Raheen in 2008.
Speaking on the Cork site’s latest project involved in the Proba-3 mission, Mr Buckley noted: “We’ve done some really cool things, especially in the region of autonomous cars, but this is by far the most interesting one out of the lot.
“Across all the projects we have done in my 20 years here, this is certainly a stand out.”