A major milestone for ESRIC: the Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber (DTVC) has been delivered to Belval, bringing one of our most important new research facilities a step closer to operation.

Commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA), the DTVC will allow technologies to be tested under conditions representative of the lunar surface, combining high vacuum, extreme temperatures from -180°C to +160°C, and simulated lunar dust (regolith).

Following installation, commissioning and testing, the facility is expected to welcome its first users in 2027, supporting researchers and industry in developing and qualifying technologies for future lunar exploration.

The DTVC was developed with ESA, Spartan Space, Maana Electric and Haux Life Support, together with ESRIC and LIST.

Luxembourg opens new chapter in space research with the launch of the first Space Campus building in Belval, featuring Europe’s most advanced facility for testing technologies under extreme lunar conditions.

On 14 November 2025, Luxembourg strengthened its position as a European hub for space research with the launch of construction on the first building of its future Space Campus. The facility will host the Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber, commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operated by the European Space Research Innovation Centre (ESRIC), providing Europe’s most advanced capabilities for testing components under extreme space conditions.

The ceremony, organised by Fonds Belval -responsible for designing, building, and managing the campus - brought together national and local leaders, including Yuriko Backes, Minister for Mobility and Public Works, Stéphanie Obertin, Minister for Research and Higher Education, and Christian Weis, Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette, alongside Daniela Di Santo, Director of Fonds Belval, and Olivier Guillon, CEO of LIST.

For LIST, a founding partner of ESRIC, it signals the expansion of Luxembourg’s space research infrastructure and the next stage in the country’s ambition to develop world-class applied research facilities.

Belval as a powerhouse for public space research

The Space Campus is designed to bring together Luxembourg’s public space research actors — a consolidation meant to accelerate discovery, strengthen competitiveness and sharpen the country’s international profile.

At the centre of this initiative stands ESRIC, hosted within LIST and operated jointly with the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA), with ESA as strategic partner. ESRIC’s relocation to Belval gives Luxembourg a purpose-built home for research on in-situ resource utilisation, mission technologies and sustainable exploration — areas where LIST already plays a prominent role. The new facility will also make Belval a magnet for researchers, companies and space agencies seeking to experiment in authentic mission-like conditions.

A European first: testing technologies under extreme lunar conditions

The building’s scientific heart will be Europe’s largest dusty thermal vacuum chamber (DTVC), an ESA-commissioned facility that ESRIC will operate from within LIST.

Its capabilities include:

• vacuum levels reaching 10⁻⁶ mbar,
• extreme thermal ranges between –180 °C and +160 °C,
• the use of engineered lunar regolith to reproduce Moon-like dust behaviour.

Such a combination does not exist elsewhere in Europe. The DTVC enables researchers and industrial partners to push prototypes to their limits and understand how materials, electronics or mechanical systems behave in an environment closely mirroring the lunar surface.

For LIST scientists, this tool will be instrumental in maturing technologies from concept to flight-ready — a process essential for future missions involving surface operations, robotics or resource extraction.

With construction underway, Luxembourg enters a new phase — one where research excellence, technological maturity and long-term space strategy converge in Belval.