A transfer function measurement system developed by OPtikos Company, USA and a KM1-1800 small space environmental simulation test equipment developed by Lanzhou Huayu Company, No. 510 Institute of the Fifth Branch, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, have completed installation, commissioning and acceptance, and come into service formally, both of which are commissioned by XIOPM, in January.

The transfer function measurement system is mainly used for testing imaging performance of optical systems, which is an important tool to evaluate objectively the image quality of optical systems. In China, the system has the largest diameter and the highest accuracy at present.

The maximum focal length of its collimator is 6000m with 600mm diameter, and the measured spectral range includes long wave infrared (8~12μm), middle wave infrared (3~5μm), short wave infrared (1.0~3.0μm) and visible lights. Its measurement accuracy of MTF is up to ± 0.02, and the repeatability accuracy is 0.01, which can be used to test the quality of the lens processing, the assembly quality of optical parts and the image quality of large aperture optical system, etc. The system’s coming into service enables XIOPM to have the capabilities of the quantitative evaluation of the image quality of optical system (MTF) with 600mm diameter.

Visible-infrared modulation transfer function tester

The space environmental simulation test equipment has two working modes with liquid nitrogen refrigeration and alcohol refrigeration, which can be used to complete the test of thermal equilibrium, thermal vacuum and vacuum discharge for electronic products and optical products. The ultimate vacuum ≤ 1 × 10-4Pa (heat sink temperature is 100K), and heat sink size is Ф1.5×1.8m2. The range of heat sink temperature: ≤ 100K in liquid nitrogen mode, the average cooling rate ≤ 2 ℃, the room temperature is -70 ℃ in alcohol mode, and the average cooling rate ≤ 1 ℃; heat flux density is 1.5 solar constant, and the pollution load ≤ 1 × 10-7g/cm2. The device is equipped with Ф400mm and Ф300mm optical windows to determine the amount of camera defocus and to test the image quality of the camera in a vacuum environment used with 2.5m collimator, which is the leading level in China.

KM1-1800 small space environmental simulation test equipment

The transfer function measurement system’s and KM1-1800 small space environmental simulation test equipment’s coming into service enhance the research and detection capabilities of XIOPM.