Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aerospacial (INTA)

Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aerospacial

The Spanish National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) is the public organism for research and development activities in the field of space and aeronautics. It is located in a fully secured environment in Madrid, Spain, at Torrejón de Ardoz, overseen by the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

INTA is the most experienced and prestigious institution in the field of space engineering of Spain, and has played a leading role in many European projects during the past decades.

The RF Power Laboratory is currently enclosed in the Space Tests Center (STC), within the Systems and Equipment Test Department, of INTA. The Department’s objectives are to verify and qualify systems and equipment, to develop new measurement techniques, and to collaborate on research programs and new norms on civil, military, and space areas.

The STC is composed of a wide set of different facilities where the whole sequence of equipment qualification and acceptance tests for a space project can be carried out:

• Electromagnetic Compatibility Tests
• Environmental and Mechanical Tests
• Electrical and RF Tests
• Antenna and Cross-Section Radar Tests
• Radar systems and Electronic Warfare Tests

The RF Power Laboratory is in charge of qualification and acceptance testing activities in the field of RF high power space systems applications. It deals with the known and threatening multipactor and corona effects, power handling verification, and passive intermodulation tests.