ESA ESTEC — Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory

Snapshot

Why it matters internationally

Every European spacecraft’s thermal design depends on trusted α/ε values for its surfaces. ESTEC’s materials laboratory is where those thermo-optical properties are measured and qualified against ECSS standards, making it the institutional bridge between laboratory emissivity measurement and flight hardware.

Scope of activity

• Quantities: thermo-optical properties: emittance, reflectance, absorptance
• Spectral range: UV–VIS–NIR–IR
• Methodology: Thermo-optical characterization of spacecraft thermal-control materials per ECSS standards, with benchtop and portable instruments; includes studies of lunar-dust degradation of thermo-optical properties.

Application domains: spacecraft thermal control · material qualification per ECSS standards.

External sources

• Materials & Electrical Components Laboratory (ESA)