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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ESA’s Synergistic Temperature Accelerated Radiation (STAR) facility has been used to test the candidate Solar Black titanium coating for Solar Orbiter’s protective heatshield. STAR allows test items to be exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation in combination with electron and proton particle radiation, across an extreme range of temperatures (–150°C to +350°C), while in ultra-high vacuum. Based at the Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory in ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, it is often used for accelerated lifetime testing.