Europe's Spacecraft Gauntlet
Before a satellite can begin its mission among the stars, it must first survive a series of trials on Earth. At the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, every piece of hardware launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) is pushed to its absolute limits. This is the technical center of ESA. There, around 2,500 engineers and scientists subject spacecraft to the brutal conditions of a rocket launch and the harsh environment of deep space.
The centerpiece of this testing ground is the Large Space Simulator (LSS). This colossal vacuum chamber, standing 15 meters high and 10 meters wide, can fit an entire satellite inside. Its pumps create a vacuum a billion times lower than sea level atmosphere, while liquid nitrogen circulating through the walls lowers the temperature to -173°C (100 Kelvin) to match the cold of space. To simulate the unfiltered glare of the sun, an array of powerful xenon lamps generates a 6-meter-wide beam of light, creating the extreme temperature swings a satellite experiences as it moves in and out of Earth's shadow. Tests inside the LSS can run for weeks at a time to ensure the spacecraft's thermal control systems function perfectly.