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The technical heart of our continent\u2019s space activities needs a lot of power to keep it going. More than four kilometres of heavy duty 10 kilovolt cables like this one run beneath ESA\u2019s ESTEC establishment in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
Each underground cable contains three wires and a screen, sufficient to supply the energy demand for several ESTEC buildings. Set up in a ring configuration for added robustness, the cables are linked to more than twenty-eight 10kV power stations, multiple transformers and gear switches, used to distribute electrical power over the site and to change the voltage level as needed.<\/p>\n
ESTEC\u2019s Test Centre for satellites, suite of technical laboratories and ventilation systems and so on have very different current, voltage and stability requirements than its ordinary offices and meeting rooms.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0image\u00a0is one of the\u00a099 Objects of ESA ESTEC, an ongoing collection of intriguing, often surprising artefacts helping tell the story of more than half a century of activity at ESA\u2019s technical heart.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n