The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Gaia Service Module (SVM) ready for thermal balance/thermal vacuum testing in the SIMLES chamber at Intespace Toulouse. The SVM is mounted on a tripod; the gantry on the left carries instrumentation cables to one of the interfaces on the base of the chamber. Underneath the SVM, the Phased Array Antenna (PAA) test heater and the bundle of test cables coming from the various temperature sensors, test heaters and from the PAA RF test ports can be seen. This large bundle of PAA cables is covered by Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) to control its temperature and can be seen on the picture as a silver cylinder going to the right and then through the bottom floor of the chamber.