Established in an international effort of the Institute for Nuclear Research (HUN-REN Atomki), the University of Kent, the Queen Mary University of London, and the Queen’s University of Belfast

The researchers of the Experimental Molecular Physics Researc Group of the HUN-REN Instutute for Nuclear Research (HUN-REN ATOMKI) started to develop their laboratory for studying astrophysically relevant charged particle impact molecular collisions in 2017 with a specific, field-free time of flight apparatus. The group attracted collaborators from UK universities, and, together with them, developed a new facility (Ice Chamber for Astrophysics/Astrochemistry, ICA) at one of the  beamlines of the Tandetron Accelerator of the ATOMKI Accelerator Centre. The ATOMKI group  joined to the proposing consortium of a new European Infrastucture Network, which has been funded in 2020. From that time ICA became one of the most popular laboratory facilities in astrochemistry within the transnational access (TA) program of the EUROPLANET 2024 Research Infrastructure Project. A similar facility, AQUILA (Atomki-Queen’s University Ice Laboratory for Astrochemistry) has been operational in 2022, and accepts TA projects from that time.