Galileo satellites' last step before launch

Europe's Galileo satellite navigation constellation is set to grow. Later this year the first two out of 12 "Batch 3" Galileo satellites will be launched by Soyuz from French Guiana. Their last step on the way to launch is ...

Planet-hunting eye of Plato

Key technology for ESA's exoplanet-hunting Plato spacecraft has passed a trial by vacuum to prove the mission will work as planned. This test replica of an 80-cm high, 12-cm aperture camera spent 17 days inside a thermal ...

Image: Vega-C fairing's trial by sound

The 10-m high fairing of Europe's inaugural Vega-C launcher atop a structural model of its upper stage, being prepared for acoustic testing within ESA's Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF) – which is able to simulate ...

Image: Mirror array for LSS

The giant 121-segment mirror array used to reflect simulated sunlight into the largest vacuum chamber in Europe seen being hoisted into position within ESA's technical heart back in 1986.

Image: Shaker test of 8-tonne cooling system

Typically ESA's shaker tables are used to replicate the take-off vibrations of a satellite-lifting rocket. The large object seen here is not a satellite at all but an 8-tonne cooling system being subjected to a simulated ...

Shake those wings

The solar arrays that will provide electricity to the Orion spacecraft were put through launch-day paces at ESA's Test Centre in the Netherlands to verify that they can handle the rigours of the trip around the Moon.

Image: ESA's Large European Acoustic Facility

ESA's Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF) will be on view to visitors at next month's ESA Open Day in the Netherlands, along with other facilities in the establishment's Test Centre.

Image: Cool scene for MetOp-C

A perfect satellite test set-up inside ESA's vast Large Space Simulator chamber – the only thing missing is a satellite.

Image: BepiColombo in the spotlight

BepiColombo is Europe's first mission to Mercury. It will set off in 2017 on a journey to the smallest and least explored terrestrial planet in our Solar System, following in the footsteps of Mariner 10 and Messenger.

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