Research infrastructure

Thermal Vacuum facility

Materials and equipment used in aerospace applications have to meet a wide range of special requirements, mainly due to the specific environment in which aircraft and spacecraft have to perform reliably and safely. NLR’s extensive capabilities and expertise in the field of airworthiness certification is complemented with state-of-art research infrastructure for aerospace systems performance and airworthiness compliance testing.

At the Thermal Vacuum facility (TVL), we conduct tests for applications involving extreme temperatures and/or vacuum. We also develop cooling systems for aerospace applications that require heat to be dissipated as efficiently as possible.

Main features

  • Thermal Vacuum chamber: for testing products under high vacuum.
  • Temperature chamber: to conduct tests from -150°C to 300°C, with the option of adjusting temperatures by 35°C per minute.