TS-Space Systems Test House
TS-Space SystemsPitstone
TS-Space Systems offers thermal-vacuum testing, monitored vacuum bakeout and materials outgassing testing in Pitstone, England. External customers can request a quotation. Its published capabilities include thermal-vacuum cycling up to +300°C and configurable bakeout up to +500°C. These are different services, and the test configuration must be agreed for your hardware.
Reviewed by Arc · About this review
Key facts
- Location
- Unit 4 Quarry Court, Pitstone Green Business Park, Pitstone, LU7 9GW, United Kingdom.
- External access
- Commercial test enquiries and quotations are offered. Availability, price and acceptance of a particular item require confirmation.
- Main services
- Thermal-vacuum cycling, monitored bakeout, outgassing, offgassing and vacuum ultraviolet exposure.
- Contamination monitoring
- Temperature-controlled quartz crystal monitor (TCQCM), residual gas analysis (RGA) and in-house Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), depending on the service and agreed setup.
Testing capabilities
Thermal-vacuum cycling
The operator describes three in-house chambers, TVAC#1, #2 and #3, for thermal cycling and monitored dwell testing. The service combines high vacuum, controlled hot and cold plateaux and digital logging. The published cold limit depends on the sample's thermal load.
Monitored vacuum bakeout
TS-Space describes monitored bakeout of flight hardware with TCQCM and a cold plate to track contamination. RGA can identify evolved species, and witness plates can be analysed using in-house FTIR. The bakeout service separately advertises configurations up to +500°C.
Materials outgassing
The outgassing service reports total mass loss (TML) and collected volatile condensable material (CVCM), with water vapour regained (WVR) as an optional measure. The operator cites ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C, 2008 issue, and describes twelve cells in two blocks. Confirm the number available for customer samples and the required conditioning procedure.
Offgassing and vacuum ultraviolet exposure
Separate services cover rate-of-rise offgassing measurement, with RGA available for species identification, and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) ageing using deuterium and xenon sources. The VUV page describes temperature-controlled samples and relative reflectivity measurements without a numerical exposure envelope.
Equipment and published limits
| Specification | Published value | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| TVAC temperature | Up to +300°C, down to approximately −200°C | The dedicated TVAC page makes the cold limit dependent on sample thermal load. Confirm the hot/cold profile, ramp rates and dwell times for the selected chamber. |
| TVAC specimen envelope | 450 × 540 × 350 mm | Published specimen length × width/diameter × height/thickness. Confirm fixture, harness and feedthrough clearance. This is not a promise that every chamber or configuration accepts that envelope. |
| Nominal vacuum limit | 1 × 10⁻⁷ Torr | A nominal facility limit, not a guaranteed pressure with your sample installed or throughout a thermal cycle. |
| Specimen mass | 20 kg in the overview table | The dedicated TVAC service page does not repeat this figure. Treat it as an overview value requiring confirmation for the selected chamber, fixture and thermal load. |
| Temperature channels | 13 T-type channels as standard | The operator offers 16 additional channels or other thermocouple types on request. Confirm the agreed channel count and instrumentation configuration. |
| High-temperature bakeout | Configurable up to +500°C | Published for the separate bakeout service. Do not use this as the upper limit of the TVAC cycling range. |
| Loading environment | Operator-stated ISO Class 8 cleanroom | Describes the chamber loading environment. It does not establish laboratory accreditation or an independently verified cleanroom certificate. |
Access and contact
TS-Space invites external testing enquiries and requests for quotations. Send the intended test profile and hardware details to its general enquiry team. The reviewed pages do not publish current booking slots, prices or lead times. Obtain confirmation of sample acceptance, dates and the test deliverables before arranging shipment.
Facility contact
- Address
- Unit 4 Quarry Court, Pitstone Green Business Park
Pitstone, LU7 9GW
United Kingdom - info@ts-space.co.uk
- Telephone
- +44 1628 474040
- Website
- Official test house website
Standards and accreditation
- Thermal-vacuum cycling
- The dedicated service page references ECSS-Q-ST-70-04C. This is the operator's stated reference, not confirmation of the edition your programme must use.
- Bakeout and contamination analysis
- The operator references ECSS-Q-ST-70-01 for monitored bakeout and ECSS-Q-ST-70-05C for FTIR analysis of molecular contamination witness plates.
- Outgassing
- The service page explicitly cites ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C, 2008 issue. ASTM E595 appears in its heading, but an edition and detailed scope are not supplied there. Confirm the required method and revision in the quotation.
- Accreditation and approval
- TS-Space states that it is an ESA trusted laboratory for ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C outgassing following a 2018–2019 interlaboratory activity. Arc has not independently verified that status. The reviewed sources do not establish a current UKAS or ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation scope, or general ESA approval of every service.
What to confirm with the facility
- The overview table lists −190°C and 20 kg, while the dedicated TVAC page gives approximately −200°C depending on thermal load and no specimen mass. The dedicated service description is used here for cycling temperature. Ask the operator to resolve mass and configuration limits in writing.
- The overview still describes TVAC#3 as planned for 2024. The dedicated TVAC page describes three chambers. The latter is the source used here, but it does not establish current chamber availability.
Before requesting a test
- Provide the item's dimensions, mass, fixture design, harness and feedthrough needs, and whether it will be powered during the test.
- Specify hot and cold plateaux, thermal load, ramp rates, dwell times, number of cycles and the required pressure during each phase.
- Describe material, cleanliness and contamination constraints, including any witness plates, TCQCM, RGA or FTIR measurements needed.
- Name the contractual standard and revision, acceptance criteria, reporting format and any accreditation evidence your customer requires.
- Confirm available dates, sample handling and shipment arrangements, price, report delivery and the agreed test configuration.
Frequently asked questions
Can external customers book testing at TS-Space Systems?
TS-Space Systems accepts commercial testing enquiries and offers quotations. This establishes an enquiry route, not an available booking. Confirm dates, sample acceptance, price and test deliverables directly with the operator.
What temperature range does TS-Space publish for thermal-vacuum testing?
Its dedicated TVAC page states up to +300°C and down to approximately −200°C, with the cold limit dependent on sample thermal load. Configurable bakeout up to +500°C is a separate service. These figures must not be combined into a −200°C to +500°C cycling range.
Can TS-Space test a 20 kg assembly measuring 450 × 540 × 350 mm?
The TVAC page publishes a 450 × 540 × 350 mm specimen envelope. A separate overview table lists 20 kg, which the dedicated TVAC page does not repeat. Those values do not establish that a particular 20 kg assembly, fixture and thermal profile are acceptable together. Ask TS-Space to confirm the configuration before booking.
Does TS-Space offer QCM, RGA and FTIR contamination monitoring?
TS-Space describes TCQCM and cold-plate monitoring for bakeout, RGA for evolved-gas identification and in-house FTIR analysis of witness plates. Availability and measurement requirements should be specified for the individual test.
Do the published ECSS references prove that the laboratory is accredited?
No. References to ECSS test methods do not establish laboratory accreditation. TS-Space makes a specific ESA trusted-laboratory claim for ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C outgassing, which Arc has not independently verified. The reviewed sources do not establish a current UKAS or ISO/IEC 17025 scope.
Related testing facilities
Further reading
Sources and review
Arc reviewed the linked operator pages on 29 September 2026. This is a review of published evidence, not a facility inspection, accreditation audit or confirmation of availability. Source publication dates were not identified. Older STFC directory links could not be retrieved during this review and have not been treated as fresh verification. Related facility entries have not been reverified as part of this review.
Arc publishes this directory entry and does not operate the test facility. Suggest a correction to Arc with a supporting source.
Primary source for cycling, specimen envelope, nominal vacuum, instrumentation and stated cleanroom class. No publication date identified.
Vacuum bakeout of flight hardware
Source for configurable +500°C bakeout, contamination monitoring and associated ECSS references. No publication date identified.
Outgassing testing: ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C and ASTM E595
Source for TML, CVCM, optional WVR, cells and the operator's scope-specific ESA claim. No independent accreditation verification performed.
Source for rate-of-rise gas-load measurement and RGA options.
Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) testing
Source for exposure sources, temperature control and relative reflectivity. A numerical exposure envelope is not published.
Source for the Pitstone address, general enquiry email and telephone.
Contains the 20 kg overview value, −190°C table entry and historical TVAC#3 wording. Conflicts are disclosed above, not silently treated as current limits.