MDA - Floor Flatness That’s Out Of This World
Montreal, Quebec
AREA: DEPLOYMENT FLOORS
PRODUCTS USED: •
July 2023, Stonhard delivered two of the flattest and toughest floors ever seen in Canada, in preparation for MDA’s next generation Earth observation mission Chorus, launching into space in Q4 2025. This pair of near identical ultra-flat floors will be used to mimic a zero Gravity environment to ensure the critical satellite sensor array can be tested and optimized prior to deployment.
The multi-sensor satellite constellation was announced in December 2021 and will consist of two satellites, working together to use powerful C-Band and X Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology to provide near real time tracking over a 700km wide swath of earth, down to sub-meter very high resolution “spotlight images”.
With an image capacity of 55 million square kilometers per day, the mission is capable of monitoring 40% of the global Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ).
The data captured will be used for a multitude of purposes, including protecting national security and sovereignty interests by providing critical intelligence and data on maritime and land activities, detection of illegal activities such as overfishing, deforestation or bilge water dumping,
monitoring of crops, critical infrastructure and transport corridors, monitoring of costal erosion and effects of climate change and can support humanitarian aid and disaster response in the event of major incidents such as, oil spills, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and volcanic eruption by providing timely relevant information.
THE CHALLENGE
The MDA team in Montreal, Quebec is responsible for the design and construction of the 2200kg C-band satellite. Classed as a large satellite, it requires careful design and construction to ensure that its size is optimized for launch but can also be reliably unfurled once it has been delivered to its orbit.
As with all mission critical stages of the satellite build process, MDA designed deployment areas within their manufacturing facility to ensure that this unfurling maneuver is thoroughly tested prior to launch. To make this possible, a pair of mirrored perfectly flat and level floors were required to provide a friction-free surface to test this critical procedure. MDA reviewed several supplier options for these floors, and selected Stonhard to be their Technical Partner for this crucial aspect of the project.
STONHARD FLEX EPOXY•
STONHARD HARD EPOXY SLOW CURE
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STONHARD HARD EPOXY FAST CURE
THE STONHARD SOLUTION
Stonhard’s mission began early in 2022 when we began work with the MDA team on their journey to refine the Stonhard flooring system and detailed installation process, to meet this very precise challenge.
The twin deployment floors would be required to resist significant equipment point loading, help control static build up from body voltage generation, and most importantly needed to be perfectly smooth, flat, and level so that any friction and gravitational forces would be minimized during the critical trial run of the satellite deployment. To mimic a zero-gravity environment, MDA used sled mounted high precision air bearings to effectively provide a friction-free range of movement during the test deployment.
In July 2023, working in an operational clean room environment, Stonhard’s technical team ensured that all stages of our installation process were optimized to prevent potential sources of contamination starting by eliminating foreign object debris from product packaging and surface preparation techniques, all the way through to the mixing and installation of the liquid rich epoxy levelling layers and final anti-static, ultra flat flooring materials.
The finished floors were measured by MDA’s in-house team for hardness and equally critical floor flatness and levelness using their high precision LiDAR equipment, to ensure that the ultra-tight tolerances required by this project are met.
The final floor measured 0.003-0.006” flatness and 0.006-0.008” levelness over the entire surface which when put into perspective, is roughly the thickness of three human hairs. Both floors have been certified “Mission Ready” by MDA and they are now on their way to ensuring a successful deployment of the satellite.
We believe MDA has two of the toughest and flattest floors ever seen in Canada.
For further insights on Stonhard, this otherworldly project or our collaborative approach to Engineered Flooring Solutions, you are invited to explore Stonhard.ca
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