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Thermal-vacuum campaign for a 6U photonic payload

Book the chamber, write the procedure, and do not cook the optics. We have a payload. We need a grown-up campaign.

Budget

£18–32k

Duration

8 weeks (including slot)

Closes

12 Sept 2026

Background

We have a 6U optical payload that needs to pass a thermal-vacuum campaign, and eleven people who are all currently doing something else. This is not a problem we need solved cleverly; it is a problem we need solved properly, by someone who has conducted campaigns before and can write a procedure that a payload engineer will sign.

The payload contains optics with a contamination sensitivity and a thermal limit we would prefer not to exceed. Our thermal model exists and has predictions. The point of the campaign is to find out whether the predictions are right, and if they are not, by how much and where.

We are aware that this is a well-trodden piece of work and we are pricing it as such. What we are paying for is competence and a slot, not innovation.

Scope

  • Propose a TVAC facility and a procedure that a payload engineer can sign.
  • Execute the campaign and record the unglamorous temperatures.
  • Report anomalies as if a customer were in the room — because one will be.
  • Correlate the measured results against our existing thermal model.
  • Maintain contamination control appropriate to an optical payload throughout.

Constraints

The awkward facts, stated now rather than in week six.

  • The optical assembly has a hard thermal limit which must not be exceeded during the campaign
  • Contamination control is not negotiable and must be evidenced, not asserted
  • The eight-week duration includes securing a chamber slot, which is the principal schedule risk
  • Our thermal model is available but has not been independently reviewed

Deliverables

  • Procedure and success criteria
  • Raw logs and a short anomaly list
  • Pass / fail recommendation
  • Thermal model correlation note identifying where the model was wrong
  • Contamination control record for the duration of the campaign

Milestones

  1. Week 1Facility confirmed and slot secured
  2. Week 3Procedure issued for our review and signature
  3. Week 6Campaign executed, raw logs delivered within two days
  4. Week 8Final report, anomaly list and model correlation note

Who should apply

  • Facility host or team with prior CubeSat TVAC evidence
  • Clean handling of optical payloads
  • A named test conductor who has run comparable campaigns
  • Ability to secure or provide a chamber slot within the period

How applications will be judged

In roughly this order.

  • Prior campaigns conducted, named and verifiable
  • The proposed procedure outline, which we will read before we read the price
  • Contamination control approach for optical hardware
  • Confidence that a chamber slot is genuinely available in the window

Terms

  • All test data and reports belong to us; the facility retains its own operational records
  • The payload design is confidential and no imagery may be published without consent
  • Fixed price including chamber time, with slot costs itemised separately
  • If the payload fails, the campaign is still complete and payable — we are buying the truth

Apply

Tell the publisher who you are and what you would do. We pass it on. The rest is between grown-ups.

We will share the thermal model and the payload thermal limits under a short confidentiality agreement before you price the work.