From this test of its ability to survive, IAL Space finally came of age. Professor Monfils and his team whose tenacity had prevailed and who were used to taking up scientific and technological challenges, had to take on another great challenge, by putting their research and testing tool at the disposal of the European space programme. The radiometer that Matra had designed for Meteosat-1, the first European satellite for meteorology, came to Liège for its optical calibration. The future of IAL Space saw the signing of a protocol agreement between the University of Liège and the ESA (European Space Agency). The integration of the know-how of the Liège infrastructure into a European network of space testing capabilities was an acknowledgement of IAL Space as a centre of excellence in Europe for the qualification of opto-electric instruments which have to function in the extreme conditions of space.

European future

This solution of making IAL Space a coordinated facility of the ESA saved Professor Monfils’ team and preserved the technological skills which contributed to the renown of the University in the area of space exploration. The quality of its contribution to the ESA and the European space industry was confirmed with the European detector of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) satellite and the Giotto mission of a European probe to the famous Halley’s Comet. The Halley Multicolour Camera (HMC) which on March 14th 1986 succeeded in taking the first close-up photos (within 600 kilometres) of the core of a comet was calibrated by IAL Space in FOCAL-2. However, this simulator became too restricted and its performances were too limited, especially at a time when the ESA satellites were becoming more ambitious, complex and voluminous.

IAL Space, in order to test the astrometry satellite Hipparcos designed by Matra, designed FOCAL-5 (Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems) which was created in 1983 in the workshops of La Meuse. In 1984, to welcome FOCAL-5, IAL Space, with the financial support of the Wallonia region-thanks to ministers Jean-Maurice Dehousse and Melchior Wathelet- set up in the Sart Tillman Scientific Park. A building of some 4,000 m² -property of the University-was constructed around a clean room which housed three simulation chambers. Prodex financing, to which Belgium contributes, involved the University of Liège in in a good number of scientific missions in orbit for the study of the sun, analysis of auroras, and knowledge about the Universe. A team of engineers endeavoured to restart the activity which had characterised the first beginnings of IAL Space, the design and development of original instruments for both for both ESA and NASA satellites.