Arceon, a Yes!Delft’s start-up, is officially amongst the selected companies of material scientists, experimenters and engineers to test materials for space applications on the Bartolomeo platform, the newest external platform to the International Space Station, participating in a pilot project of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French space agency CNES.
The program’s goal is to gain insight about how material ages in low-Earth orbit of the International Space Station. To this purpose, up to 45 samples will spend a minimum of six months exposed to an extraordinarily challenging environment. Arceon is undertaking the crucial task to develop 4 of them. These materials will have to deal with extreme temperature shifts known as ‘thermal cycling’ involving ongoing sudden shifts in temperature from up to 150 degrees C in sunlight down to -150 degrees C in the shade, along with radiation, vacuum, and even space debris.
Innovation advances
The combination of extreme conditions could cause cracking, misalignment, even buckling of the test materials. Arceon is looking forward to taking on such an assignment as it is a rare opportunity to expand awareness and further explore the capabilities and performance of Arceon’s composites while presenting invaluable prospects for innovation advances on Earth. Read more about the project on ESA’s informative project page.
