Media Lario to produce Compact Range Reflectors for the new ESA radio frequency test facility

Media Lario S.r.l. has been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to supply and install the Compact Range Reflectors (CRR) for the new radio frequency (RF) test facility, previously called HERTZ (Hybrid European RF and antenna Test Zone). The new RF test facility will allow high accuracy end-to-end antenna and satellite testing in a broad frequency range, from 1 GHz up to several hundred GHz. The existing facility is currently used for RF testing primarily for antennas and space related components.

The Compact Range Reflectors are a critical component of the new RF test facility. They represent the heart of the far field test system as they will allow converting a spherical wave into a plane wave, which is needed for testing antennas, satellites and payloads in far field conditions simulating the space environment. The CRR will be composed of two large surfaces, each the size of a 6-story building which will be manufactured and aligned to micrometric (1/1000 of a millimetre) accuracy. The CRR panels will be made using Media Lario’s proprietary and patented Repli-formed Optics™ technology.