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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As spacecraft antenna systems grow larger and more powerful, it has become correspondingly more difficult to measure them. Accommodating large antenna farms or deployable mesh antennas within standard test facilities may be impractical. The answer, developed by Astrium in Germany with support from ESA's Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme, is the Portable Antenna Measurement System. PAMS is a portable gondola (seen to the right) that can be suspended from existing cranes in any configuration around the satellite being tested, to build up a detailed picture of the antenna's surrounding electrical field from all directions.