Major infrastructure here includes Europe’s largest vacuum chamber, equipped with a Sun simulator and liquid nitrogen in its walls to reproduce space conditions; Europe’s loudest sound system, used to blast satellites with simulated launch noise and Europe’s most powerful hydraulic shaker system, able to reproduce launcher vibrations equivalent in turn to a major earthquake.

ESA’s Test Centre has supported many historic missions, Europe’s 20-tonne ATV space truck and Envisat, the world’s largest civilian Earth-observing mission, no less than 22 Galileo ‘Full Operational Capability’ satellites and the multi-module BepiColombo spacecraft currently journeying to Mercury. Supported through Basic Activities, the Test Centre works closely with other European test facilities, sharing testing innovations and best practice.

The ESTEC Test Centre is operated by European Test Services (ETS) on behalf of ESA.

The Test Centre is established not only to provide specific support to ESA’s own projects but also to serve the needs of European space and non-space industries.

See the 3D map to discover how the Test Centre is structured

GSTP Annual Report 2020