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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When it launches in 2022, ESA’s Juice – JUpiter ICy moons Explorer – will complete a unique tour of the Jupiter system, and study the planet’s three potentially ocean-bearing moons: Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. However, before its journey can begin, Juice must be rigorously tested to ensure its various components can withstand not only the conditions of a turbulent launch to space, but the punishing conditions once it gets there.
This video shows Juice’s High Gain Antenna, which was designed, produced and supplied by Thales Alenia Space and will provide a way to communicate and exchange data with the spacecraft during its mission, undergoing vibration testing.
Vibration testing mimics the forces and accelerations experienced during launch into space. It forces the antenna to move in both a controlled and random way subject to different vibrations to ensure that a given instrument will not become damaged or fall apart. This video shows the antenna being shaken in two different ways: from side-to-side (Sine Y testing) and up-and-down (Sine X testing),