![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2014\/04\/antenna_at_redu\/14488564-1-eng-GB\/Antenna_at_Redu_small.jpg\")
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\nExpressly shaped for transmitting and receiving radio waves across vast distances, antennas are vital tools for space, linking far-flung satellites with their homeworld \u2013 like this example at\n<\/p>\n
\nESA\u2019s Redu centre<\/a> in Belgium.\n<\/p>\n \nAntennas are also instruments in their own right, probing alien worlds or elements of the terrestrial environment.\n<\/p>\n \nThe space industry\u2019s work with antenna systems was highlighted during this month\u2019s EuCAP<\/a>, the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation in The Hague, the Netherlands on 6\u201311 April.\n<\/p>\n \nESA was a major sponsor of the conference, which brings together antenna specialists from both academia and industry. More than 1300 specialists arrived from 64 countries.\n<\/p>\n \nPaying a visit to the ESA stand, they could come face to face with examples of space antennas, including an engineering model of the L-band antenna, used by Galileo satellites for broadcasting navigation messages down to Earth 23 222 km below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \t\t\t\t\t \nExpressly shaped for transmitting and receiving radio waves across vast distances, antennas are vital tools for space, linking far-flung satellites with their homeworld \u2013 like this example at\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n