MGA’s Space and Defense division has made great strides recently and is committed to continuing this growth! By expanding our services in both geographical locations and solutions offered, we are well positioned to assist our customers anywhere in the continental U.S.
Until 2022, MGA has been servicing this industry in New York, Alabama, Texas, and Virginia. By leveraging testing experience in our existing labs and our ability to design/build our own equipment, we have now expanded these testing services to our Wisconsin, South Carolina, Michigan, and the newest addition to our network of laboratories, California. This allows us to provide the same experience on the same equipment from coast to coast.
Derived from basic DO-160 requirements, our core competencies are mechanical shock, pyrotechnic shock (PyroShock), high frequency vibration, extreme temperature variation, altitude, humidity exposure, salt fog/spray, acceleration, immersion, and materials testing. In 2022, we have increased our inventory of thermal chambers, PyroShock tables, and Electro-Dynamic shakers to accommodate industry needs at a larger scale. This year, MGA plans on adding Thermal Vacuum, sand and dust testing, as well as PyroShock capability at extreme temperatures. Furthermore, a new PyroShock data acquisition software that provides several new features, making testing and data-processing more efficient, will be released in 2023. These additions will allow further development in this industry by introducing custom test specifications based on field observations.
Pyroshock testing is used to certify components, subsystem for flight where pyrotechnic events occur. Common components include actuators, valves, electrical equipment, antennas, and other communication devices.
Thermal-vacuum testing is a process of exposing a test article of extreme temperatures (both hot and cold) at a vacuum level (14.7psi or below). This process replicates the harsh environment endured by these components in space.
Some of our future plans include the implementation of a wide range of testing capabilities in our California operations, positioning it as our west coast hub for space and defense. On the innovation side, MGA is in the development process of a horizontal PyroShock system capable of supporting larger test samples (satellites, etc..).
Staying true to our promises, MGA strives to continue its support to the industries it serves through constant innovations geared to provide simple solutions to complex problems. This is done by expanding our existing testing capabilities geographically, growing our “services offered” portfolio, and challenging the norm.
A transient shock is produced and recorded by accelerometers by impacting a resonant beam with a controlled mass. The time history data is then converted to the frequency domain to produce a Shock Response Spectrum (SRS). This is evaluated to ensure that a unit has undergone similar environments to the flight environment it will be subjected to.
