6th Paolo Santini Memorial Lecture “Half a century of Space Adventure at Centre Spatial of Liège”

• Main Author: Rochus, Pierre
• Other Authors: CSL Université de Liège
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Space technologies; Physical; chemical; mathematical & earth Sciences; Space science; astronomy & astrophysics; Physique; chimie; mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Aérospatiale; astronomie & astrophysique; Kiruna; Liège
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/212659; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/212659/1/Article%20GuadalajaraIAC-16%20SANTINI%20LECTURE%2018%209%200013.pdf

Motivations for space activities started in 1958: it was then a small laboratory of Institute of Astrophysics of Liege (IAL). In 1962, under the name of IAL-Space, it began real space activities observing the auroras in ultraviolet by sending around twenty sounding rockets, launched mostly from the base of Kiruna (Sweden). IAL-Space was finally recognized in 1975 as a coordinated test installation of the European Space Agency. It moved to Sart Tilman in 1984 to reach more spacious buildings. Subsequently IAL-Space got the status Research Center in 1988, it became a PRODEX Institute and changed its name to CSL in 1992. Lately it has further expanded with the commissioning of a new test facilities like FOCAL 3, FOCAL XXL, enabling to perform tests in the infrared range. Centre spatial de Liège is now a research Centre dedicated to space instrumentation including environmental test facilities and high level laboratories. It works for the European Space Agency (ESA), for the space industry and for regional industries. From the beginning of its more than 50 years long history, CSL develops, assembles, calibrates and/or tests observation instruments and relevant sub-systems capable to operate in a harsh environment, in order to serve the demands of the space science. Space Systems Program focuses its effort to incorporate CSL into the teams dedicated for definition, design, integration and/or ground and in flight calibration of scientific payload missions, mainly under the final authority of the most prestigious Space Agencies (ESA, NASA, JAXA, CNES, BELSPO, …). Today, more than 15 complex pieces of CSL technology have been launched in space, all of them operating nominally. Some of the most significant instruments made by CSL are: S2 / S68 telescope on TD1/ESRO, Halley Multicolor Camera (HMC/GIOTTO), FOC (HST), EIT solar telescope (SOHO), HI (STEREO), SWAP (PROBA 2), optical monitors with OM (Newton), OMC (INTEGRAL) and various contributions on PACS (Herschel), MIRI (JWST), UVS (JUNO) and COROT. In 2011, this strong ...