Image: credits by ESA.
Eos Engineering belong to EOSOL GROUP, under a programme funded by the EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY, will design, manufacture and test the Sub Millimeter Wave VAlidation Standard Antenna. This project will be carried out in collaboration with RADIOMETER PHYSICS GmbH, SPACE STRUCTURES GmbH and UNIVERSIDAD POLITÉCNICA DE MADRID. The main objective of the project is to develop a well-characterised, mechanically and thermally stable multi-frequency reflector submmVAST antenna covering six channels: 89 GHz, 118 GHz, 183 GHz, 325 GHz, 664 GHz and 1.2 THz.
The developed submmVAST antenna will be used for the intercomparison and validation of the antenna measurements of the more challenging future instruments, which will be carried out in one of the most advanced antenna test chambers in Europe. The mechanical design of this submmVAST must ensure extremely stable electrical characteristics allowing frequent travels between the different measurement facilities.
As it is expected that future instruments will be cryogenically cooled down to extremely low temperatures, this submmVAST must be also extremely thermally stable. For this purpose, the consortium will select the most sophisticated materials capable of withstanding cryogenic temperatures. For the first time, the submmVAST antenna will be characterised down to cryogenics at the LORENTZ Chamber at the Antenna Laboratory at ESTEC.
The view expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency.
