There is no rework budget for a satellite in orbit.

From optical assemblies to avionics integration, aerospace demands contamination monitoring that is continuous, traceable, and aligned with the program record.

Aerospace contamination control is not driven by yield economics. It is driven by mission requirement. A particle on an optical surface, a contamination event during sensor integration, a fibre on a connector contact during flight system assembly — these are not quality incidents with financial consequences. They are program risks with mission consequences. The James Webb Space Telescope required continuous particle deposition monitoring throughout the assembly of its primary mirror in Northrop Grumman’s Redondo Beach facility because the optical specification of the 18 gold-coated mirror segments could not absorb a single undetected contamination event. No servicing mission was possible after launch.

APMON Secure provided that monitoring: real-time deposition rate at the mirror surface throughout hundreds of hours of human activity in the cleanroom, with no data leaving the facility’s security perimeter. The measurement was ISO 14644-17-compliant, four-minute resolution, continuous — and it was aligned with the Whyte-Agricola framework that demonstrates why personnel activity during assembly operations produces deposition rates an order of magnitude higher than the at-rest ISO classification would predict. The data became part of the program record. Contamination of the primary mirror was not a contributing factor in any deviation throughout the program.

Surface cleanliness adds a second dimension to aerospace contamination control. Optical substrates, mirror blanks, lens assemblies, and sensor windows require surface cleanliness verification before integration — not assumed clean from previous handling, but confirmed clean at the moment of assembly. SUMON provides this measurement non-contactly in ten seconds, expressing the result in PAC per IEST-STD-CC1246E — the standard referenced across aerospace and defense supply chains for product surface cleanliness specification and verification.

What you can Count on

in Aerospace Contamination Control.

APMON Secure — real-time deposition rate monitoring with no data leaving the facility security perimeter, designed for classified and restricted-network environments. Full ISO 14644-17 measurement capability within a local data architecture.
APMON Live — networked monitoring for non-classified aerospace assembly facilities, with up to 16 sensors across integration areas, providing simultaneous deposition rate data at multiple critical locations.
SUMON — surface cleanliness measurement of optical substrates, mirror surfaces, sensor windows, and contact surfaces, per IEST-STD-CC1246E, before integration into flight assemblies.
Program documentation — timestamped event logs supporting mission readiness reviews, configuration audits, and post-launch anomaly investigations with complete assembly environment history.
Human activity correlation — deposition rate spikes correlated with personnel entries, process steps, and equipment operations, supporting behavioral intervention and gowning protocol validation.

In aerospace, contamination monitoring is not a quality program. It is a program requirement. The data it produces is part of the flight heritage.

APMON Secure — real-time deposition rate monitoring with no data leaving the facility security perimeter, designed for classified and restricted-network environments. Full ISO 14644-17 measurement capability within a local data architecture.
APMON Live — networked monitoring for non-classified aerospace assembly facilities, with up to 16 sensors across integration areas, providing simultaneous deposition rate data at multiple critical locations.
SUMON — surface cleanliness measurement of optical substrates, mirror surfaces, sensor windows, and contact surfaces, per IEST-STD-CC1246E, before integration into flight assemblies.
Program documentation — timestamped event logs supporting mission readiness reviews, configuration audits, and post-launch anomaly investigations with complete assembly environment history.
Human activity correlation — deposition rate spikes correlated with personnel entries, process steps, and equipment operations, supporting behavioral intervention and gowning protocol validation.

In aerospace, contamination monitoring is not a quality program. It is a program requirement. The data it produces is part of the flight heritage.

APMON Secure — real-time deposition rate monitoring with no data leaving the facility security perimeter, designed for classified and restricted-network environments. Full ISO 14644-17 measurement capability within a local data architecture.
APMON Live — networked monitoring for non-classified aerospace assembly facilities, with up to 16 sensors across integration areas, providing simultaneous deposition rate data at multiple critical locations.
SUMON — surface cleanliness measurement of optical substrates, mirror surfaces, sensor windows, and contact surfaces, per IEST-STD-CC1246E, before integration into flight assemblies.
Program documentation — timestamped event logs supporting mission readiness reviews, configuration audits, and post-launch anomaly investigations with complete assembly environment history.
Human activity correlation — deposition rate spikes correlated with personnel entries, process steps, and equipment operations, supporting behavioral intervention and gowning protocol validation.

In aerospace, contamination monitoring is not a quality program. It is a program requirement. The data it produces is part of the flight heritage.

Continuous monitoring in a programm record

Aerospace programs require documentation that contamination control was maintained throughout assembly, not only at qualification. A continuous APMON event log provides the deposition rate for every four-minute interval during the program, timestamped and stored. This is the contamination control record that mission readiness reviews, customer audits, and post-launch anomaly investigations draw on. A periodic sediment plate reading provides a daily average. The APMON event log provides the full operational history.

Discover

measurement solutions.

Classified environment particle deposition monitoring

Surface cleanliness for optical and precision surfaces

Classified environment particle deposition monitoring

Surface cleanliness for optical and precision surfaces

For in-depth knowledge on contamination measurement,
explore the Brookhuis Academy.

For in-depth knowledge on contamination measurement,
explore the Brookhuis Academy.

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whitepapers.

Particle Deposition

Surface Cleanliness

Particle Deposition

Surface Cleanliness