![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2017\/10\/open_day_visitor_in_test_centre\/17199931-1-eng-GB\/Open_Day_visitor_in_Test_Centre_small.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\nA young visitor explores the outsize halls of ESA\u2019s Test Centre for satellites during the Agency\u2019s 8 October Open Day at its technical heart in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe largest facility of its kind in Europe, the Test Centre<\/a> is a 3000 sq m cleanroom complex, filled with simulation facilities to assess that satellites can withstand the violence of launch and the vacuum and extremes of temperature found in Earth orbit.\n<\/p>\n \nThe centre has evaluated some of Europe\u2019s largest space vehicles, including the eight-tonne Envisat environmental satellite, the 20-tonne ATV space truck to the International Space Station, and the multimodule BepiColombo mission to Mercury, set for launch next year.\n<\/p>\n \nVisitors saw the Phenix thermal vacuum chamber<\/a>, used for subjecting satellites to orbital conditions, the Large European Acoustic Facility<\/a> for blasting satellites with simulated launch noise, and the Hertz radio frequency test chamber<\/a> for assessing satellite antennas.\n<\/p>\n \nA stand on Europe\u2019s satellite navigation system noted that the centre recently concluded the testing of 22 Galileo satellites<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \nMore than 8400 visitors toured the site on Open Day. To see more pictures, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nA young visitor explores the outsize halls of ESA’s Test Centre for satellites during the Agency’s 8 October Open Day at its technical heart in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.\n<\/p>\n \nThe largest facility of its kind in Europe, the Test Centre<\/a> is a 3000 sq m cleanroom complex, filled with simulation facilities to assess that satellites can withstand the violence of launch and the vacuum and extremes of temperature found in Earth orbit.\n<\/p>\n \nThe centre has evaluated some of Europe’s largest space vehicles, including the eight-tonne Envisat environmental satellite, the 20-tonne ATV space truck to the International Space Station, and the multimodule BepiColombo mission to Mercury, set for launch next year.\n<\/p>\n \nVisitors saw the Phenix thermal vacuum chamber<\/a>, used for subjecting satellites to orbital conditions, the Large European Acoustic Facility<\/a> for blasting satellites with simulated launch noise, and the Hertz radio frequency test chamber<\/a> for assessing satellite antennas.\n<\/p>\n \nA stand on Europe’s satellite navigation system noted that the centre recently concluded the testing of 22 Galileo satellites<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n