SVOM tank relocation

The SVOM/Eclairs test facility – a 3-tonne instrumented tank – was moved from CNES to IRAP on June 26, 2023. The white hall had to be prepared to accommodate this 6 m3 tank. The PIME team was heavily involved with the SVOM/Eclairs team.

The ECLAIRs camera test facility (6 m3 instrumented vacuum/thermal tank) was moved from CNES to IRAP’s white hall on Monday June 26, 2023. This set of test equipment required the transport of over 5 tonnes of material. The IRAP project team, the PIME division and CNES had been preparing this very delicate operation for almost a year. Indeed, the tank was moved under primary vacuum with the instrument (EIC model) inside. In the end, all the spectacular operations went off without a hitch. The tank has now been installed in the white hall at IRAP and should be operational again shortly. Initially, it will be used by the SVOM project to accompany the mission during flight. Afterwards, all its testing facilities will be made available to the laboratory. Last but not least, we’d like to thank all those involved in this operation, and in particular Eric, who ran the whole thing so expertly!
The ECLAIRs project team, the PIME team