Flight model of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter
Date: 04 March 2015
Satellite: ExoMars 2016
Depicts: Trace Gas Orbiter
Copyright: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2015
The flight model of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, pictured in March 2015 while it was in the Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) at the Cannes (France) facility of Thales Alenia Space. The picture was taken after the finalisation of radiated emission tests. These tests are part of the electromagnetic compatibility test campaign, which is designed to demonstrate that all the spacecraft's systems will operate without interfering with one another, and that they are sufficiently immune from external electromagnetic radiation.
The CATR is a chamber whose walls absorb radio signals. This allows the radiofrequency systems on the spacecraft to radiate as they will during normal operations, without reflections from surrounding structures altering the measurements. The nozzle of the main engine can be seen protruding from the base of the spacecraft.
