STAR Lab

Space Technology & Astrophysics Research Lab

The STAR Lab is dedicated to two key objectives:

The lab develops space-based payloads, from compact instruments like cubesats to flagship missions like Daksha. It plays a leading role in the study of relativistic transients, with access to observatories such as the GROWTH-India Telescope and AstroSat. It is housed in a 650 sq ft facility at the ground floor of Department of Physics, IIT Bombay. 

Clean Room

A Class 10,000 clean room with an ESD-safe workbench and anti-static flooring, designed for the assembly, integration, testing, and development of space-grade electronics. It ensures contamination-free handling of sensitive payload components.

Laminar Flowbench & ESD Table

The laminar flowbench is used for cleaning and preparing components before they enter the clean room, ensuring no contaminants affect the final assembly. The ESD table provides a controlled environment for preliminary testing of new electronics before their final development in the clean room. This setup prevents electrostatic damage to sensitive space hardware.

Thermal Cycling Chamber

A thermal cycling chamber capable of operating between -70°C to 100°C, with precise control over temperature and relative humidity. Its 800mm × 1000mm × 1000mm chamber size allows environmental testing of payloads under extreme conditions. Designed for space payload testing, it simulates the temperature fluctuations encountered in orbit and deep space.

GROWTH-India Telescope Controls

Systems that automate & control India's first fully robotic telescope, GROWTH-India Telescope, operated at Hanle, Ladakh. These systems handle nightly observation scheduling, real-time image downloads, data reduction, and reporting for rapid transient follow-up. This infrastructure enables fast response to astrophysical events, supporting time-sensitive observations.

AstroSat Processing

Systems that run the fully automated pipelines for detecting gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and other fast transients with AstroSat-CZTI. These systems also enable quick localization and polarization analysis of these bright transients. Further, these systems also are used for studying X-ray binaries and related phenomenon.