TNO is active in the field of design, development, testing and calibration of optical instruments for satellites, e.g. for earth observation. TNO wants to invest in a new experimental setup to extend its facilities beyond the capabilities of the currently existing setup and to be able to test and calibrate state of the art optical instruments (either developed in house or in co-operation with other companies). The setup will be used for what is known in this industry as:

— performance testing,

— thermal vacuum and thermal balance testing,

— optical instrument calibration.