Industry Related News: United States – August 2023:
The High Power Radio Frequency Laboratory, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), is conducting environmental tests on an antenna intended for use on Spain’s Miura 1 sub-orbital micro-launcher. In order to get the antennas ready, they are currently undergoing thermal testing – a process where they are exposed to temperatures not typically found here on Earth. Thermal testing is an important aspect of evaluating the performance and capabilities of all types of spacecraft and their components. With the temperature variations found in space, it is important that these machines are able to operate and perform at these extreme highs and lows.
This thermal testing process, as well as other environmental tests, are part of ESA’s General Support Technology Programme. This includes subjecting the antennas to thermal testing, as well as vibration tests. Launch, orbital flight, and the return to Earth expose these antennas to extremely harsh environments, including vibrations from the launch vehicle engines, shocks from fairing and stage separations, and the previously mentioned temperature variations. So it is vital that they are rigorously tested to ensure that they can perform as expected.
During the testing process, the antennas are placed inside a sealed vacuum chamber that can create and maintain a controlled environment. The temperature inside the vacuum chamber can be precisely controlled to match the expected conditions of the mission. The antennas are then subjected to temperature cycles, rapid temperature changes, or prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures to evaluate their performance under different scenarios.
While most of the testing occurs at the Public University of Navarra, UPNA, corona discharge testing is conducted at ESA’s High Power Radio Frequency Lab. This involves placing the antennas in a glass container to control the surrounding air levels while they are operational. The glass container allows radio signals to pass through without obstruction.
Itziar Maestrojuan, CEO of Anteral, expresses gratitude to ESA for their support in fully qualifying the antennas for use in Miura-1 and potentially other launchers and applications where reliability is paramount. Thanks to thermal testing and other types of environmental tests, this project is one step closer to completion.
esa.int, “Discharge Test for Launcher Antenna”, Accessed July 12, 2023
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Khoury Industries is a worldwide leader in temperature testing equipment for device characterization, thermal cycling equipment, and failure analysis. Khoury Industries designs and manufactures custom thermal chambers and microwave thermal testing fixtures used in a variety of industries including: military, space, automotive, medical, research, and communication fields. The Khoury Box and the patented ELI-1000 have quickly become industry favorites as thermal testing devices used to ensure the reliability of industrial and electronic products through prolonged exposure to extreme conditions.
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