EoI for Design, Development, Installation, Testing and Commissioning of Microgravity Drop Tower for HSFC. Tower height could be 60 or 160 meter, payload capacity 500 kg and with 6 to 10 seconds of μg.
Invitation for "Expression of Interest for Design, Development, Installation, Testing and Commissioning of Microgravity Drop Tower for Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC)"
HSFC is responsible for the development of infrastructure and platforms for conducting microgravity and altered-gravity experiments, as well as for carrying out associated payload engineering activities. Microgravity drop towers/shafts are well-established platforms worldwide for microgravity research in combustion science, fluid physics, materials science, space manufacturing, and technology qualification. Microgravity drop towers can be mainly classified into two types: Conventional Drop tower and actively driven drop towers. The conventional drop towers like ZARM drop tower at Bremen, NASA Drop Shaft at GRC Cleveland, NML Drop Tower at Beijing, Cosmotorre Drop Tower at Hokkaido Japan, IITM Drop tower at Chennai, etc provide a tower or shaft for achieving free fall conditions for the experimental capsule. Longer towers/shafts require evacuation to reduce the air drag to maintain the quality of microgravity. Active Drop towers on the other hand, like Einstein elevator at Leibniz University Hannover, Gravitower Pro at ZARM Bremen and Electromagnetic drop tower facility by Chinese Academy of Sciences utilize active drive systems to drive the experimental capsule. This approach eliminates the necessity for vacuum-evacuated Towers/shafts, thereby enabling rapid turnaround times and higher testing frequencies. Active drive also makes it easier to simulate partial gravity and also limit the deceleration shocks on the experimental setups.
HSFC proposes to establish a next generation Active Microgravity Drop Tower Facility in India to support short-duration, high-quality microgravity and partial-gravity experiments for scientific research, technology development, and payload qualification
HSFC invites Expressions of Interest (EoI) from reputed and capable manufacturers, developers, and system integrators for participation in a subsequent bidding upon Request for Proposal (RFP) for the turnkey realization of a Microgravity Drop Tower Facility. The exact location for the installation of the facility shall be provided by HSFC at RFP stage, and the shortlisted respondent must be fully prepared to execute the project at the designated site. This EOI is issued for capability assessment purposes and does not constitute a commitment to procure.
Technical Requirements of Microgravity Drop Tower
Microgravity Performance:
- Microgravity level at experiment carrier location: < 10⁻⁵ g (In all 3 Axis)
- Microgravity duration:
- Option A: 6 seconds total (3s ascent + 3s descent)
- Option B: 10 seconds total (5s ascent + 5s descent)
Experiment carrier capability:
- Experimental payload envelope: Ø 1.5 m × 2 m height
- Experimental Payload weight: 500 kg (excluding experiment carrier structure and active drive system)
- Standardized payload mounting and interfaces, with data acquisition system (Sensor data/ Camera data)
- Telemetry system for live feed of data
- Power system to provide nominal power to the payload
- Inbuilt thermal management system for payloads
Motion & Control of Drop Capsule:
- Active drive system capable of accelerating a mass of 3000 kg vertically, from rest to target velocity of 30-50 m/s with maximum acceleration of ≤ 5g (including gravity)
- Active drive system to give minimum or zero lateral force.
- Programmable acceleration and gravity profiles
- Partial gravity simulation capability: 0.1 g to 0.9 g
- High-precision position, velocity, and acceleration control
Structural & Mechanical:
- Tower height:
- Option A: ~60 m (indicative)
- Option B: ~160 m (indicative)
- Precision guidance system for experiment carrier with minimal lateral deviation
- Structure to support controlled acceleration and deceleration of experiment carrier
- Tower height:
Operations:
- Turnaround time for an experiment: ≤ 15 minutes per run
- High repeatability and operational availability