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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Natanael Ayllon, ESA payload engineer, showing a prototype transmit/receive module on a single Gallium Nitride chip. All past synthetic-aperture radar missions such as Sentinel-1 or TerraSAR-X rely on hybrid multi-chip implementation of the transmit-receive modules. Recent ESA R&D activity has demonstrated that significant improvements in terms of degree of integration and performance can be achieved thanks to single-chip implementation using the GaN technology, allowing for single-chip integration of a low-noise and high-power amplifiers and a transmit-receive switch.