Rouages: “Thanks to our work, Montpellier-based nanosatellites are generating scientific data in orbit.”
Romain Briand and Ezéchiel Pinède are mechanical engineer and systems engineer, respectively, at the Montpellier University Space Center (CSUM). Both are involved in the incredible teamwork that enables the CSUM to send its nanosatellites into space. They tell us about their mission in the video series "Rouages"(Cogs), produced by the University of Montpellier. Action!
Not just anyone can enter the Space Center at the University of Montpellier. Once we have passed through the entrance to the Saint-Priest campus and the building's front door, we meet Calypso Alcalde, communications officer, who leads us to the two protagonists of the day. Just enough time to check out the logos of the Van Allen Foundation's many industrial sponsors displayed in the lobby, and we're on the second floor, heading to the control center where Romain Briand, a mechanical engineer who has been with the space center for seven years, and Ezéchiel Pinède, a systems engineer who joined the team two years ago, are waiting for us.
The interview begins with screens showing the movement of nanosatellites on a world map in the background. Romain, the most senior member of the team, agrees to start. Concise and precise, two essential qualities in his job, he sums up his position in two sentences. "I am a mechanical engineer specializing in the assembly, integration, and testing of nanosatellites so that they are ready to be delivered to launchers ["rockets," specifies 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 are not talking about manufacturing but assembly. " It's meticulous work that the engineer first carries out in the workshop and then in the clean room. The two spaces on the ground floor of the building are quite different.
From the workshop to the clean room
On one side is a modestly sized room lined with a multitude of tools, including the famous tweezers mentioned by Romain Briand: "These are small tweezers, like hair removal tweezers, which allow us to pick up the screws needed to assemble nanosatellites." Against the walls, we see hundreds of lockers containing thousands of small screws and other microelectronic components, all perfectly catalogued, labeled, and organized, ready to be used to assemble the nanosatellites, several prototypes of which are visible on the workbenches (listen to our report on flatsats with Pablo Boizeau from CSUM, at 20:45 in the recording).
On the other side, behind a glass wall, is a 200m² space occupied by a few workbenches, spaced far apart and with no unnecessary objects lying around. "This room has a controlled environment, which means that we measure the temperature, humidity, and particle levels so that we can assemble our flight models and carry out our tests. " To enter, you have to show your credentials: hairnet, lab coat, shoe covers, and mask. Here, the slightest speck of dust or hair is an enemy to be eliminated (listen to our report on satellite assembly with Romain Briand at 19:45 in the recording).
Ground segment work
Ezéchiel Pinède's workplace is in the control room where we are filming our video. The systems engineer tells us its real name: the ground segment. Having worked at CSUM for just over two years, his role is "at the interface between different areas of expertise. My daily routine consists of maintaining an overview of all projects in order to coordinate technical activities and ensure the successful development and in-flight operations of the various satellites." From this room, where he spends half his time, Ezéchiel Pinède operates the satellites that the CSUM has in space.
The screen, located just behind him, shows us four of them moving at the pace of the Earth on the world map. On other screens, tables and curves are less easy to make out. Ezéchiel Pinède also shows us photos in which we recognize the blue profile of our planet. "This is where we collect all the data transmitted by the nanosatellites, and it's also where we send them remote commands," explains the engineer. For the latter operation, he uses the MCC, or 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."
Reach for the stars
It's easy to imagine that neither of these two engineers ended up 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, so working at the University of Montpellier's Space Center was almost a given for me." Ezéchiel Pinède's career path began in a similar way, with a degree in mechanical engineering from Polytech Montpellier, "which I wanted to supplement with an additional year of specialized master's studies Space Systems Development which I completed on a work-study basis thanks to the Van Allen Foundation."
Both enjoy working with cutting-edge technologies on a daily basis, as part of a multidisciplinary team. "Thanks to our work, Montpellier's nanosatellites generate scientific data in orbit" ( see Avant nous le déluge, 2022, LUM No. 16), says Romain Briand, who last June was able to fulfill a childhood dream just before the launch of Ariane 6 in Kourou with Robusta 3A, the CSUM's eighth nanosatellite, on board: "I was able to sign the Ariane 6 fairing with my own hand!"
" In just a few years, we have witnessed the development of satellites from the initial idea to operations in orbit, throughdesign and production,"enthuses Ezéchiel Pinède, for whom the most intense moments are "when we hear the satellite signal for the last time in our clean room, and when we receive the first signal from space."