Antennex and ESA to Develop Test Infrastructure for NTN and Satellite Antennas

Antennex has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) under its Connectivity and Secure Communications directorate to develop a next-generation, aerospace-ready reverberation chamber, strengthening Europe’s test capabilities for satellite and non-terrestrial network (NTN) technologies.

Backed by ESA’s ARTES Competitiveness & Growth programme, the two-year project will deliver a larger reverberation chamber designed to test satcom terminals, satellite modules, and integrated antennas relevant to modern satellite and NTN systems. A key innovation is the addition of spatial measurement functionality, enabling more realistic over-the-air (OTA) characterization of complex antenna systems.

The facility will support testing across L- and S-bands, critical for mobile satellite services, direct-to-device, and IoT-focused NTN use cases, while retaining Ku- and Ka-band capability for broadband and high-throughput satellite applications. This positions the chamber as a validation tool for hybrid terrestrial–satellite devices and next-generation NTN terminals operating across multiple bands.

The ESA says the project will help ensure precise, standards-aligned RF testing as satellite communications converge with 5G and future 6G networks. For Antennex, it is a step toward meeting growing demand from the aerospace and NTN ecosystem for high-fidelity OTA measurement environments.

SOURCE: https://antennex.tech/news/collaboration/antennex-and-european-space-agency-sign-contract/