The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) is the European Space Agency's main technology development and test centre for spacecraft and space technology. It is situated in Noordwijk, South Holland, in the western Netherlands, although several kilometers off the village but immediately linked to the most Northern district of the nearby town Katwijk.
At ESTEC, about 2500 engineers, technicians and scientists work hands-on with mission design, spacecraft and space technology. ESTEC provides extensive testing facilities to verify the proper operation of spacecraft, such as the Large Space Simulator (LSS), acoustic and electromagnetic testing bays, multi-axis vibration tables and the ESA Propulsion Laboratory (EPL). Prior to launch, almost all of the equipment that ESA launches is tested in some degree at ESTEC.
The Space Expo is ESTEC's visitors centre. It has a permanent exhibition about space exploration.
The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) was founded in 1968. The centre was to be the core of the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO). Its responsibilities included the engineering and testing of satellites and their payloads, the integration of scientific instruments in these payloads, and making arrangements for their launch. In some cases member states were to produce the scientific instruments for ESRO or produce them as part of their own national effort and compensate ESTEC for its service. In practice, national organisations simply used ESTEC as a service organisation and left it to pay for their efforts from the ESRO budget. After the Bannier Report the facility gained overall executive authority for spacecraft development and was merged with ESLAB. The satellite control centre was also moved to ESOC. ESTEC was originally to be located in Delft (South Holland) but because of unforeseen difficulties, Noordwijk was chosen instead.[1]
ESA Test Centreedit
MetOp-C's payload module being lowered into Large Space Simulator, 2017
In 1964 the ESRO decided to create an independent test centre that would be part of ESTEC. The first building with vibration and thermal vacuum facilities (named F-building) was completed in 1966[2] and the first satellite to be tested was the ESRO-1 satellite[3] in 1968. From the 1970s to the late 1980s the test centre was enlarged by following facilities: The Dynamic Test Chamber (DTC) in 1975, The Multishaker in 1983, The EMC facility in 1985, The Large Space simulator (by extending the DTC) in 1986,[4] The Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF) in 1989 and the Compact Payload Test Range (CPTR) in 1990.
In the 1990s and 2000s the following major facilities have been added: The hydraulic shaker system (HYDRA), The Fr building with additional clean rooms (2000), The Large EMC facility (Maxwell) and the QUAD Shaker in 2008.
In 1997 the test operations and facilities maintenance activities were subcontracted to the COMET consortium and in the year 2000[5] the test management, maintenance, operations and marketing of the test centre has been taken over by European Test Services B.V. (a subsidiary of IABG mbH and Intespace SA); The facilities are still belonging to ESA which is responsible for the facility development, test methodologies, test related engineering and subcontractor control.
Since the year 2000 not only tests for space industry have been performed but the facilities are also used for aerospace-, railway-, transport-, marine- and power- testing for customers like ABB, ALSTOM, Airbus, Bombardier and many more.[6]
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The European Space Research and Technology Centre ESTEC is the European Space Agency s main technology development and test centre for spacecraft and space technology It is situated in Noordwijk South Holland in the western Netherlands although several kilometers off the village but immediately linked to the most Northern district of the nearby town Katwijk European Space Research and Technology CentreAerial view of ESA s technical centre ESTECAbbreviationESTECLocationNoordwijk NetherlandsParent organizationEuropean Space AgencyWebsitewww wbr esa wbr int wbr About wbr Us wbr ESTECAt ESTEC about 2500 engineers technicians and scientists work hands on with mission design spacecraft and space technology ESTEC provides extensive testing facilities to verify the proper operation of spacecraft such as the Large Space Simulator LSS acoustic and electromagnetic testing bays multi axis vibration tables and the ESA Propulsion Laboratory EPL Prior to launch almost all of the equipment that ESA launches is tested in some degree at ESTEC The Space Expo is ESTEC s visitors centre It has a permanent exhibition about space exploration Contents 1 Activities 2 History 3 ESA Test Centre 4 Space Expo 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksActivities editFuture mission assessment Current project support Test Center OperationsHistory edit nbsp Models of ExoMars EDM Schiaparelli and the ExoMars Rover now the Rosalind Franklin rover at ESTEC 2014The European Space Research and Technology Centre ESTEC was founded in 1968 The centre was to be the core of the European Space Research Organisation ESRO Its responsibilities included the engineering and testing of satellites and their payloads the integration of scientific instruments in these payloads and making arrangements for their launch In some cases member states were to produce the scientific instruments for ESRO or produce them as part of their own national effort and compensate ESTEC for its service In practice national organisations simply used ESTEC as a service organisation and left it to pay for their efforts from the ESRO budget After the Bannier Report the facility gained overall executive authority for spacecraft development and was merged with ESLAB The satellite control centre was also moved to ESOC ESTEC was originally to be located in Delft South Holland but because of unforeseen difficulties Noordwijk was chosen instead 1 ESA Test Centre edit nbsp MetOp C s payload module being lowered into Large Space Simulator 2017In 1964 the ESRO decided to create an independent test centre that would be part of ESTEC The first building with vibration and thermal vacuum facilities named F building was completed in 1966 2 and the first satellite to be tested was the ESRO 1 satellite 3 in 1968 From the 1970s to the late 1980s the test centre was enlarged by following facilities The Dynamic Test Chamber DTC in 1975 The Multishaker in 1983 The EMC facility in 1985 The Large Space simulator by extending the DTC in 1986 4 The Large European Acoustic Facility LEAF in 1989 and the Compact Payload Test Range CPTR in 1990 In the 1990s and 2000s the following major facilities have been added The hydraulic shaker system HYDRA The Fr building with additional clean rooms 2000 The Large EMC facility Maxwell and the QUAD Shaker in 2008 In 1997 the test operations and facilities maintenance activities were subcontracted to the COMET consortium and in the year 2000 5 the test management maintenance operations and marketing of the test centre has been taken over by European Test Services B V a subsidiary of IABG mbH and Intespace SA The facilities are still belonging to ESA which is responsible for the facility development test methodologies test related engineering and subcontractor control Since the year 2000 not only tests for space industry have been performed but the facilities are also used for aerospace railway transport marine and power testing for customers like ABB ALSTOM Airbus Bombardier and many more 6 Space Expo edit nbsp Space Expo in 2013The Space Expo is the permanent exhibition about space exploration at the ESTEC compound in Noordwijk 7 It was opened in 1990 by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Prince Friso of Orange Nassau 8 The exhibition has more than 100 000 visitors annually 9 See also editAdvanced Concepts Team Concurrent Design Facility ESA Centre for Earth Observation ESRIN European Astronaut Centre EAC European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications ECSAT European Space Astronomy Centre ESAC European Space Operations Centre ESOC European Space Tracking Network ESTRACK Guiana Space Centre CSG Mission Science DivisionReferences edit Usa Ibp Usa 2010 European Space Policy and Programs Handbook Int l Business Publications p 65 ISBN 978 1433015328 History ESTEC Noordwijk 1966 ESA Retrieved 10 August 2015 History ESRO 1 satellite 1968 ESA Retrieved 10 August 2015 Large Space Simulator LSS ESA 26 January 2015 Retrieved 10 August 2015 Overview European Test Services ETS B V European Test Services Archived from the original on 28 June 2015 Retrieved 10 August 2015 References Projects European Test Services Archived from the original on 28 June 2015 Retrieved 10 August 2015 Space Expo in Noordwijk Holland com Retrieved 10 August 2015 Reactie Space Expo bij overlijden van Prins Friso in Dutch Space Expo 30 July 2013 Retrieved 10 August 2015 Zien en Doen Space Expo in Dutch Space Expo Retrieved 31 May 2020 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to European Space Research and Technology Centre Official website Space Expo ESTEC visitor center European Test Services B V 52 13 02 N 4 25 17 E 52 21722 N 4 42139 E 52 21722 4 42139 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title European Space Research and Technology Centre amp oldid 1188614238 ESA Test Centre, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
