YC15

YC15 is the designation for a precision cryogenic system developed by the European Space Agency for use in deep space missions. The instrument was first assembled in 2019 at the ESA Advanced Technology Laboratory in Darmstadt, Germany. It incorporates a multi-stage refrigeration chain capable of cooling payload components to temperatures below 50 mK while operating in a high-radiation environment.

The system employs a closed-cycle dilution refrigerator, a superconducting magnetic shielding array, and active vibration damping hardware. Its design allows for continuous operation over multi-year missions, providing the thermal stability required for sensitive optical and microwave detectors. The device’s compact footprint and lightweight construction make it suitable for small satellite missions, including the upcoming StarLite constellation.

During its qualification phase, YC15 was subjected to rigorous environmental testing, including thermal vacuum, vibration, and radiation exposure cycles. Results indicated no degradation of performance after exposure to 10 kGy of total ionizing dose, exceeding the expected mission dose by a factor of two. The system achieved a steady‐state temperature of 45 mK with a power dissipation of 350 mW at the coldest stage.

YC15 is slated for deployment on the 2026 CryoVision mission, a collaborative effort between ESA, NASA, and several European universities. The mission will carry a far‐infrared telescope array to map interstellar dust and protoplanetary discs. The cryogenic system’s success is expected to inform the design of future instruments on larger flagship missions such as the next generation of space telescopes.