Mission Statement

The mission of the Division of System Integration Technologies (DSIT) is to support the Center for Space Utilization (CSU) in the development of advanced technologies and facilities for conducting scientific research on Chinese Space Station (CSS) and other manned space exploration platforms, and thereby, to benefit the science communities worldwide in pursuing innovative research in space.

Management

DSIT is a research entity within CSU, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).  DSIT currently has 31 full-time research staff and 8 graduate students, projected to have approximately 50 full-time staff and 20 graduate students by 2020.  DSIT is jointly managed by one Director and three Associated Directors, responsible for the strategic operation plan development, space flight hardware development/integration/verification, advanced technology R&D, fundamental research, graduate student supervision, and intramural and extramural collaborations. CSU, on the other hand, manages the overall logistics, including government relations, policy compliances, legal consultation, human resources, accounting and auditing, quality assurance, etc.  

Technical Capabilities

DSIT’s core competencies lie in complex structures design and analysis, vibration suppression and control, thermal analysis and design, and system integration and verification.  Complex structures design and analysis involve modeling, analysis, and design of complex geometry, light-weight, and dimensional stable structures for space-based scientific exploration equipment and facilities. Vibration suppression and control involve (a) the analysis of system vibration characteristics, decoupling of coupled dynamics, and application of damping vibration suppression to achieve desired dynamic responses; (b) multi-degrees-of-freedom active vibration isolation and control to achieve high microgravity levels.  Thermal analysis and design involve thermal modeling and optimal thermal design within constraints to ensure that temperatures of all critical components/subsystems are controlled within their operating limits.  System integration and verification involve (a) performing all-levels of analysis including functional analysis, timeline analysis, requirements allocation and interface definition studies to match design requirements into hardware and software specifications; (b) performing required tests at different stages to verify the conformance of design requirements and minimal design risks. 

Current Activities

Over the past decade, DSIT-develop technologies and payloads had successfully flown on China’s Shenzhou missions (SZ-1 to SZ-10) as well as on Tiangong-1 mission, and had supported researchers and scientists nationwide in achieving their scientific goals and objectives.  Through these missions, DSIT has accumulated rich knowledge and experiences in space payload development, integration, verification and validation. 

At present, DSIT is managing the development of research facilities (a.k.a. research racks) for the scientists worldwide to conduct researches and applications on CSS.  Already-planned research racks include Fluid Physics Research Rack, Medical Samples Analysis & High Microgravity Level Research Rack, Life Ecology Research Rack, Biotechnology Research Rack, Glovebox & Low Temperature Storage Rack, Varying Gravity Research Rack, Ultra-cold Atomic Physics Research Rack, Precision Frequency & Time Rack, High-Temperature Materials Research Rack, Containerless Materials Processing Research Rack, Two-Phase Flow Research Rack, In-Orbit Maintenance and Repair Processing Rack, and Combustion Research Rack. The capabilities of these research racks are capable of supporting and sustaining scientific research in material science, life science, fluid physics, space physics, remote sensing, etc. for the decades coming.