Antenna Laboratory

At ESTEC, ESA operates some of the largest European test facilities dedicated (but not limited) to the testing of space hardware. Among these is the Antenna Laboratory

The Antenna Laboratory, through its several facilities and with over 30 years of existence, provides state-of-the-art measurement services to ESA projects and external customers and explores and develops new measurement techniques.

The Antenna Laboratory provides testing capabilities for antennas and payloads, including radiation pattern measurement, absolute gain, phase centre determination, group delay and any other end-to-end payload- or platform-radiated signal across a frequency range between a few hundred MHz to 5 THz. Some of these capabilities are available under various environmental conditions, in order to verify antenna and radiated payload performance in flight conditions.

The Antenna Laboratory provides support to both ESA projects and external customers – including small- to medium-sized companies lacking access to comparable private-sector facilities – needing to assess new antenna designs and techniques and to qualify designs for flight. These have included some of ESA’s largest flight hardware.

Contact

For general enquires regarding this TEC location please refer to the assigned contacts:

Ines Barbary

Laboratory Manager

For testing requests, access to lab facilities, training and consultancy services, please refer to:

THIRD PARTY ACTIVITIES

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Reflectivity measurement

Sample measurement in the Microwave Material RF characterisation free space test facility

Satellite inside HERTZ

Qarman CubeSat in Hertz test chamber

LAB FACILITIES

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HERTZ: HYBRID EUROPEAN RF AND ANTENNA TEST ZONE

The lab has combined, in the same anechoic room, a Compact Payload Test Range (CPTR) and a Near Field Range (NFR) capable of handling test objects up to 5000 kg. Their purpose is to verify in-orbit performance of antennas, payloads and complete satellites with complex antenna farms.

The CPTR is a ‘compensated’ compact range, suitable for testing antennas and payloads in far-field conditions. Its compensated dual-reflector design allows accurate measurements of payloads employing frequency and polarisation re-use to be performed.

The Near Field Range consists of an inverted-T planar scanner in combination with a heavy duty positioning system for the ‘device under test’ (DUT). For planar scanning, the DUT does not move and can be positioned on its own support (e.g. multi-purpose trolley) if required. For spherical and cylindrical near-field scanning, the theta-phi rotation is performed in a roll-over-azimuth configuration. In spherical near-field mode, tests have been successfully performed down to 140 MHz.

Main parameters of the Near Field Range

Planar scan range (m)

10.10X8.5 (w X h)

Freq. Range (GHz)

0.1-50.0

Scanning Speed (mm/s)

Up to 1000

Planarity on total area (mm)

± 0.1 RMS Total

Testing in various temperature conditions

Yes

Main parameters of the Compact Payload Test Range

Plane Wave Zone

[m] 5 x 7 x 5 (w x l x h)

Freq. Range [GHZ]

3.4 - 25.0

Amplitude ripple [dB]

±0.2 @ X-band

Phase ripple [degrees]

±4 @ X-band

Testing in various temperature conditions

Yes

The Hertz facility has all needed infrastructure support to host complex payloads and satellites, including process cooling water, compressed air, 3-Phase 63-Amp UPS, and ‘clean earth’ grounding.

CATR - COMPACT ANTENNA TEST RANGE

The CATR, a dual parabolic-cylindrical compact range, is dedicated to testing small- to medium-size antennas and instruments up to 1.2m diameter in a range of 4-110GHz. It is perfectly suited for the accurate testing of the new generation of communications antennas and feeds in Ka-, Q-, V- and W-band.

Is also possible to perform spherical near-field antenna testing in a frequency range down to 1 GHz inside the same anechoic room. This allows for the accurate measurement of full-sphere antenna patterns and gains. In addition, this configuration can also be used for the determination of the 3D phase centre and antenna radiated group delay with high accuracy.

SMS – SUB MILLIMETRE WAVE SCANNER

The SMS is a precision sub-millimetre wave planar near-field scanner with the ability of measuring accurately antennas and radiated payloads operating at frequencies above 50 GHz up to 1.5 THz. Although it is typically used for science and Earth observation radiometers and millimetre-wave imagers, it can also be used for terrestrial high-gain P2P antennas.

MAIN PARAMETERS OF THE SMS

Planar scan range [m]

1.0 x 1.0 (w x h)

Freq. range [GHz]

50-1500

Scanning speed [mm/s]

Up to 40

Planarity on total area [dB]

±0.02 RMS total

LORENTZ

The Low-Temperature Near-Field THz Chamber (LORENTZ) is the newest antenna test facility developed for ESA.

Instruments & specs

The LORENTZ facility is a large cryogenic chamber that contains a planar near-field scanner. This gives it the unique capability of testing antennas over the frequency range of 50-1500GHz in a realistic space environment.

The main vacuum anechoic chamber can accommodate instruments with a volume of 1900mm x 1900mm having a mass up to 500kg.

The antenna under test can be temperature controlled from 80-390K (-190C – 117C) with future plans to go down to 4K (-270C). Then through a novel design, the antenna pattern can be measured using a 1x1m planner scanner, which remains at room temperature.

This setup allows for the full end-to-end measurement of instruments in a truly representative environment.

LORENTZ

CATR full view

CATR detail

CATR other detail

LAB FACILITIES

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SCAT - SUBMILLIMETER-WAVE MATERIAL SCATTEROMETER

The Scatterometer is a quasi-optical free-space RF measurement test bench that, when combined with a network analyser and dedicated analysis software, provides a powerful measurement tool for the determination of complex material properties. It allows the characterisation of dielectrics, ferrites, reflective surfaces and a variety of printed structures, such as FSS, CPSS, half-wave plates and lenses. The set-up is installed in a controlled clean-room environment ensuring adequate conditions for flight hardware testing.

The main advantage of this system is the ability of measuring samples with high absorption or thickness. Co-polar and cross-polar components of the transmission and reflection properties of the samples under test can be determined by using high-performance corrugated horns, grids and refocusing mirrors. In addition, a periscope-based design allows state-of-the-art measurement of the scattering properties of materials over a wide angular range.

Main parameters of the Scatterometer

Frequency range [GHz] 50-1500
Sample holder diameters [mm] 80, 110, 125
Typical sample hedge taper [dB] -45
Typical beam waste diameter [mm] 30
Typical cross polarization purity [dB] -50
Typical angular range for scattering [degrees] 20-70

MICROWAVE MATERIAL RF CHARACTERIZATION TEST FACILITY

The Microwave Material RF Characterisation Free Space test facility comprises two corrugated feeds and grids with collimating elliptical mirrors focused at the sample position. The set-up is used in conjunction with the Compact Antenna Test Range positioner. It allows polarisation measurements in transmission and reflection configuration, both monostatic and bistatic.

This facility enables the characterisation of materials for antenna radomes, reflectors and electromagnetic band-gap structures, as well as frequency/polarisation selective surfaces (FSS). In addition, reflection measurements can be performed over a wide temperature range, up to 500°C.

A pair of horns for each frequency band is either directly connected to the network analyser (8-50 GHz) or to solid-state frequency extenders based on multipliers and mixers (50-110 GHz).

Main parameters of the Microwave Material Facility

Frequency range [GHz] 6-110
Sample holder size [mm] 400x400 and 300x300
Typical edge taper over sample [dB] -35
Typical beam waste diameter [mm] 5λ
Typical cross polarization purity [dB] -50
The bench is located in an anechoic chamber

Menlo Time Domain Spectrometer

The Menlo Time Domain Spectrometer (TDS) system, allows for the measurement and imaging of samples up to 6 THz. This increase in frequency range will be required for future science and Earth observations missions. All facilities can be encased in a nitrogen tent, to remove any atmospheric effects.

Instruments & specs

Frequency range [THz] 0.5 – 6
Sample size 10 – 40mm diameter
Simultaneous transmission and reflection measurements under angle possible.
Imaging plane 200x200 mm

Services

Testing

Antenna pattern, Gain and Efficiency
EIRP, Total radiater power, Antenna Losses
Radiated group delay, 3D Phase centre
Antenna & Spacecraft EM interaction
Return Loss and Antenna Coupling
End-to-End Radiated payload performance
Material reflectivity losses and Dieletric proprieties
RF scattering testing
Antenna Diagnostic

Measurements

Prototyping
RF characterisation
End-To-End Performance
Antenna Gain and Pattern measurement
Radiated Payload End-to-End performance

Simulation

Modelling
RF Simulations
Antenna-Satellite interaction
Near Field to Far Field transformation
Surface Currents Re-construction
Diagnostics from measurements

Analysis

Antenna Testing & Measurement Uncertainty Analysis

Technical Expertise

Consultancy
Training
Ad hoc Auditing
Development of Space Standards

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION REGARDING THE ACCESS TO THE LABORATORY

Luis Rolo

Laboratory manager

Antenna Laboratory

Ines Barbary

THIRD PARTY ACTIVITIES

HERTZ: HYBRID EUROPEAN RF AND ANTENNA TEST ZONE

Main parameters of the Near Field Range

Main parameters of the Compact Payload Test Range

CATR - COMPACT ANTENNA TEST RANGE

MAIN PARAMETERS OF THE CATR

SMS – SUB MILLIMETRE WAVE SCANNER

MAIN PARAMETERS OF THE SMS

LORENTZ

Instruments & specs

SCAT - SUBMILLIMETER-WAVE MATERIAL SCATTEROMETER

Main parameters of the Scatterometer

MICROWAVE MATERIAL RF CHARACTERIZATION TEST FACILITY

Main parameters of the Microwave Material Facility

Menlo Time Domain Spectrometer

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Measurements

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Analysis

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Luis Rolo