Liège Space Center (French: Centre spatial de Liège, CSL) is a research center of the University of Liège in Belgium. It holds a hundred people, half of whom are engineers and scientists. The activities of the CSL are specialized in optics, space technologies and space environment testing.
The activity of the Liège Space Centre is focused on three areas:
- It is a test centre for certifying optical space equipment and payloads before they are put into orbit. Vibration, optical, thermal and even cryogenic tests are conducted in thermal environments of up to -270°C, i.e. 3 degrees above absolute zero.
- It designs, develops and certifies scientific space instruments. These optical instruments are designed to enable unique scientific observations and use the latest advances in technology.
- New technology development activities are performed on the one hand as a support service to the other space activities of the Liège Space Centre, and on the other hand within the scope of non-space regional or European projects.
The Liège Space Centre therefore brings together many specialists: opticians, mechanics, heat engineers, physicists, specialists in micro-manufacturing, as well as electronics specialists. They work in direct cooperation with the university’s laboratories, but also with major European centres such as the European Space Agency, astrophysics laboratories and technology centres. The Liège Space Centre also works in collaboration with non-space industries at regional and European level, where its skills are used for a wide range of applications such as micro-manufacturing, optical coatings, solar energy, etc.
