![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2016\/06\/sentinel-2b_entering_lss\/16044075-2-eng-GB\/Sentinel-2B_entering_LSS_small.jpg\")
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\nESA\u2019s Sentinel-2B Earth-observing satellite being lowered into Europe\u2019s largest vacuum chamber, at the start of a test campaign to ensure it is ready to serve in space.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe satellite is now in ESA\u2019s 15 m-diameter Large Space Simulator<\/a>, where high-performance pumps will remove all air within the chamber to create an orbital-quality vacuum. Meanwhile, liquid nitrogen circulates through the black walls to mimic the cold of sunless space.\n<\/p>\n \nSentinel-2B arrived by lorry on the night of 15 June, making the first time any of the Sentinel family of satellites serving the Copernicus<\/a> initiative for global environmental monitoring has visited ESA\u2019s technical heart, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.\n<\/p>\n \nSentinel travelled from Airbus Defence and Space\u2019s Friedrichshafen facility in Germany, where it was first assembled and then all of its main elements underwent detailed testing.\n<\/p>\n \nSentinel-2B is a twin of Sentinel-2A<\/a>, launched a year ago. The two satellites together will provide global multispectral coverage, extracting valuable environmental data from the colours of land vegetation and coastal waters. They are equipped with laser communications to return data quickly to Earth.\n<\/p>\n \nThe largest centre of its kind in Europe<\/a>, ESA\u2019s test facilities simulate every aspect of the space environment. Everything is housed under a single roof within a controlled cleanroom environment to avoid contaminating flight hardware.\n<\/p>\n \nA sequence of tests will be conducted on Sentinel-2B between now and the end of October.\n<\/p>\n \nThe current thermal-vacuum testing will be followed by electromagnetic compatibility testing within the Maxwell chamber<\/a>, to ensure the satellite can operate safely with its ground station \u2013 as well as with its launcher during its crucial first moments of life \u2013 without harmful interference.\n<\/p>\n \nNext, Sentinel will be blasted inside the Large European Acoustic Facility<\/a> to simulate the extreme noise experienced atop the launcher during liftoff and its early climb to orbit.\n<\/p>\n \nA final set of performance tests will then check that all of its systems have survived exposure to these simulated mission environments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nESA’s Sentinel-2B Earth-observing satellite being lowered into Europe’s largest vacuum chamber, at the start of a test campaign to ensure it is ready to serve in space.\n<\/p>\n \nThe satellite is now in ESA’s 15 m-diameter Large Space Simulator<\/a>, where high-performance pumps will remove all air within the chamber to create an orbital-quality vacuum. Meanwhile, liquid nitrogen circulates through the black walls to mimic the cold of sunless space.\n<\/p>\n \nSentinel-2B arrived by lorry on the night of 15 June, making the first time any of the Sentinel family of satellites serving the Copernicus<\/a> initiative for global environmental monitoring has visited ESA’s technical heart, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.\n<\/p>\n \nSentinel travelled from Airbus Defence and Space’s Friedrichshafen facility in Germany, where it was first assembled and then all of its main elements underwent detailed testing.\n<\/p>\n \nSentinel-2B is a twin of Sentinel-2A<\/a>, launched a year ago. The two satellites together will provide global multispectral coverage, extracting valuable environmental data from the colours of land vegetation and coastal waters. They are equipped with laser communications to return data quickly to Earth.\n<\/p>\n \nThe largest centre of its kind in Europe<\/a>, ESA’s test facilities simulate every aspect of the space environment. Everything is housed under a single roof within a controlled cleanroom environment to avoid contaminating flight hardware.\n<\/p>\n \nA sequence of tests will be conducted on Sentinel-2B between now and the end of October.\n<\/p>\n \nThe current thermal-vacuum testing will be followed by electromagnetic compatibility testing within the Maxwell chamber<\/a>, to ensure the satellite can operate safely with its ground station – as well as with its launcher during its crucial first moments of life – without harmful interference.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n