Europe’s biggest test chamber for space antennas takes shape

Written by Copernical Team Thursday, 06 April 2023 09:43

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Antennas and radio frequency systems for space are growing larger and more powerful, so to keep pace ESA’s ground-based test facilities are scaling up too. A construction project underway beside the dunes of the North Sea marks the expansion of the ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands with the addition of Europe’s largest antenna and radio-frequency payload test chamber – Hertz 2.0.

Let there be light

The new building will also incorporate an improved and expanded version of ESA’s Optics and Opto-Electronics Laboratory OOEL, which was originally established in the 1970s, expanding steadily as demands for testing have grown.

“The new OOEL will incorporate a roughly 500 sq. m cleanroom, built to ISO 8 standards or better, able to accommodate multiple experiments and test set-ups at the same time,” explains Dana Tomuta, overseeing the Lab expansion.

“These should range from proof of concept testing for quantum and optical communications and a transportable Optical Ground Station, quantum key distribution experiments, facilities for the characterisation and calibration of lasers and detectors, spectro-radiometric test facilities for the calibration of detectors, small cameras and optical payloads, plus various measurement systems for the testing of optical components.