ESA Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Laboratory - ESTEC
Noordwijk, South Holland, Netherlands
+31 71 565 6565Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk, South Holland, 2201 AZ, Netherlands
About
The Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory of the European Space Agency sits within the TEC Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, and supports ESA projects and European industry with EMC testing and magnetic cleanliness verification. It is an agency in-house laboratory rather than a commercial ISO/IEC 17025 test house: access for external organisations runs through the Third Party Activities (TPA) management system, and the emphasis is on highly demanding non-standard requirements, pre-compliance measurement on breadboards and development models, troubleshooting support and customised tests for specific project needs. Four facilities make up the laboratory. The EMC test facility is a shielded anechoic chamber of 8.55 x 7.50 x 4.58 m with pyramidal foam on walls and ceiling, ferrite tiles on the floor and copper ground reference plane test tables, paired with a 3.45 x 6.60 x 2.93 m shielded control room held at 20 +/- 2 C and 40-55 % RH; it covers DC to 40 GHz for conducted, radiated and ESD work, with E-field shielding better than 120 dB from 14 kHz to 1 GHz, 120-100 dB to 10 GHz and 100-95 dB to 18 GHz. The magnetic cleanliness facilities are the genuinely unusual part. The Mobile Coil Facility performs 360-degree rotational measurement and multiple-dipole modelling of remanent magnetisation in near-real time, measures induced magnetic moment against applied field up to 100 microtesla and performs perm/deperm magnetisation and demagnetisation to ECSS-E-ST-20-07C, resolving to 12 pT over a 70 cm cube test volume for objects to 20 kg. The Multi-Magnetometer Facility uses twelve 3-axis fluxgate magnetometers to capture magnetic moment from multiple angles in a single snapshot without rotation, accepting objects to 100 kg. The AC Magnetic Facility determines low-frequency magnetic emissions from DC to 50 kHz using either 16 triaxial fluxgates (DC-2 kHz) or 8 search coil magnetometers (160 Hz-50 kHz), separating internal from external sources by spherical harmonic expansion. Together these have supported missions with tight magnetic cleanliness budgets including Swarm, BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter, JUICE and LISA. The laboratory also provides electromagnetic and circuit simulation, interference analysis, EMC assessments, consultancy and contributions to space standards development, and hosts hands-on training for staff, young graduate trainees and stagiaires.
Testing Services
| Test Type | Applicable Standards |
|---|---|
| Radiated Emissions | ECSS-E-ST-20-07C, DC - 40 GHz, Shielded anechoic chamber 8.55 x 7.50 x 4.58 m |
| Conducted Emissions | ECSS-E-ST-20-07C, DC - 40 GHz |
| Radiated Immunity | ECSS-E-ST-20-07C, RF characterisation to 40 GHz |
| Conducted Immunity | ECSS-E-ST-20-07C |
| Radiated Susceptibility | ECSS-E-ST-20-07C, DC magnetic susceptibility tests |
| Conducted Susceptibility | ECSS-E-ST-20-07C |
| ESD | ESD testing within the EMC test facility |
| Power Frequency Magnetic Field | ECSS-E-ST-20-07C magnetic cleanliness, AC magnetic emissions DC - 50 kHz, DC magnetic characterisation +/- 100 microtesla, 12 pT resolution, Perm/deperm magnetisation and demagnetisation, Multiple dipole modelling, EM shielding measurement |
| Pre-Compliance Testing | Pre-compliance measurement on breadboards and development models, Non-standard and customised project-specific tests, Troubleshooting and anomaly investigation, Electromagnetic and circuit simulation, EMC assessments and consultancy |
Certifications / Marks
| Certification |
|---|
| ECSS space standards development |
| ESA Third Party Activities (TPA) access |
Industries Served
| Industry |
|---|
| Aerospace & Defense |
Major Equipment
| Equipment |
|---|
| Shielded anechoic chamber 8.55 x 7.50 x 4.58 m (pyramidal foam walls/ceiling, ferrite floor) |
| Shielded control room 3.45 x 6.60 x 2.93 m (20 +/- 2 C, 40-55 % RH) |
| Copper ground reference plane test tables 1.0 x 2.0 m |
| E-field shielding >120 dB (14 kHz - 1 GHz), 120-100 dB (1-10 GHz), 100-95 dB (10-18 GHz) |
| Test and measurement instrumentation DC - 40 GHz |
| Mobile Coil Facility (MCF) - 360 deg rotational, +/- 100 uT, 12 pT resolution, 20 kg |
| Squared Helmholtz coil pairs and perm/deperm coils (max 5 mT at 3 Hz) |
| Multi-Magnetometer Facility (MMF) - twelve 3-axis fluxgates, snapshot, 100 kg |
| AC Magnetic Facility - 16 triaxial fluxgates (DC-2 kHz), 8 search coils (160 Hz-50 kHz) |
| Laser positioning system for magnetometer and UUT location |
| ESD test equipment |
| Electromagnetic simulation tools |
