Rouages: "Thanks to our work, Montpellier nanosatellites generate scientific data in orbit".
Romain Briand and Ezéchiel Pinède are respectively mechanical and systems engineers at the Space Center of the University of Montpellier (CSUM). Both are part of the formidable teamwork that enables the CSUM to send its nanosatellites into space. They tell us about their mission in the " Rouages " video series, produced by the University of Montpellier. Get moving!
Not just anyone can enter the Centre spatial de l'Université de Montpellier. Once past the Saint-Priest campus entrance and the building's front door, we meet up with Calypso Alcalde, communications officer, who leads us to the two protagonists of the day. Just enough time to discover the logos of the Van Allen Foundation 's many industrial sponsors displayed in the reception hall, and we're off to the second floor, heading for the control center where Romain Briand, a mechanical engineer for seven years at the space center, and Ezéchiel Pinède, a systems engineer who joined the team two years ago, are waiting for us.
The interview begins against a backdrop of screens showing the movement of nanosatellites on a planisphere. Romain, the most senior member of the team, agrees to take the plunge. Concise and precise, two indispensable qualities in his profession, he sums up his job in two sentences. " I'm a mechanical engineer specializing in the assembly, integration and testing of nanosatellites so that they are ready to be delivered to launchers ["to the rocket", explains Calypso Alcalde, careful to ensure that the vocabulary is accessible to all] and therefore ready to be delivered into orbit. When we talk about nanosatellites, we're not talking about manufacturing, but assembly. This meticulous work is carried out first in the workshop, then in the cleanroom. The two areas on the building's first floor are in stark contrast.
From workshop to cleanroom
On one side, a modest-sized room lined with a multitude of tools, including the famous tweezers mentioned by Romain Briand: " These are small pliers, like tweezers, which enable us to grab the screws needed to assemble the nanosatellites ". Against the walls are hundreds of racks containing thousands of small screws and other microelectronic components, all perfectly catalogued, labelled and arranged, ready to be used to assemble the nanosatellites, several prototypes of which can be seen in the workspaces (listen to our report on the flats with CSUM's Pablo Boizeau, at 20'45 of the recording).
On the other side, behind a glass wall, a 200m2 space occupied by a few straw mattresses set far apart from each other, with no superfluous objects lying around. " This room has a controlled environment, meaning that we measure temperature, humidity and particle levels to be able to assemble our flight models and carry out our tests. To get in, you have to show your credentials: charlotte, lab coat, overshoes and mask. Here, the slightest dust, the smallest hair is an enemy to be slaughtered (listen to our report on satellite assembly with Romain Briand at 19'45 of the recording).
Ground segment work
Ezéchiel Pinède's working environment is in the control room where we're shooting our video. The systems engineer gives us his real name: the ground segment. He has been with the MUSC for just over two years, and his mission is " at the interface of different areas of expertise. My day-to-day job consists in having a global vision of all projects, coordinating technical activities and bringing development and in-flight operations of the various satellites to a successful conclusion. From this room, where he spends half his time, Ezéchiel Pinède operates the satellites that the MUSC has in space.
On the screen just behind him, we can see four of them moving to the rhythm of the Earth on the world map. On other screens, tables and curves are less obvious, and Ezéchiel Pinède also shows us photos in which we recognize the blue profile of our planet. " It's from here that we retrieve all the data transmitted by the nanosatellites , and it's also from here that we send them remote controls," explains the engineer. For this last operation, he uses the MCC, the mission control center, a kind of radio connected directly to space. " It ' s with this tool that I can communicate in real time with our satellites.
Touching the stars
As you can see, neither of these two engineers arrived in the space industry by chance: " I did a master's degree in mechanical engineering in Montpellier," says Romain Briand. I've always loved space, and working at the University of Montpellier's Space Center was almost an obvious choice for me." Ezéchiel Pinède's career path began in much the same way, with a mechanical engineering degree at Polytech Montpellier, " which I wanted to complete with another year of a specialized master's degree in Space Systems Development which I completed on a sandwich course thanks to the Van Allen Foundation.
On a daily basis, both enjoy working with cutting-edge technologies, as part of a multidisciplinary team. " Thanks to our work, Montpellier nanosatellites are generating scientific data in orbit" (see Avant nous le déluge, 2022, LUM n°16), says Romain Briand, who last June fulfilled a childhood dream just before the launch of Ariane 6 in Kourou, with Robusta 3A, the eighth MUSC nanosatellite, on board: " I was able to sign the Ariane 6 fairing with my own hand!
" In just a few years, we've seen the development of satellites from the initial idea to in-orbit operationsthrough to design and production ", enthuses Ezéchiel Pinède, for whom the most intense moments are those " when we hear the satellite signal for the last time in our own room, and when we receive the first signal from space".