Facilities
CIRA is proud of its three large facilities with performances unmatched anywhere in the world. Built between 1992-2002 these leading edge facilities are sought by global users including agencies, organizations and industries from the USA, Europe and China, including – to name but a few – Boeing, ESA and the Chinese Science Academy. The smaller Ghibli and PT1 facilities are significant at a European level.
The three major facilities are:
The Icing Wind Tunnel (IWT), built under PRORA in 1993-1994 in response to an explicit request of Italian industry, is the world’s most sophisticated and performing in its category, leading to it being used by industries and organizations ranging from Lockheed to NATO.
The Plasma Wind Tunnel (PWT), co-financed by the European Space Agency (ESA), is the world’s largest and most advanced of its kind. It designed to study and improve the flight safety of spacecraft in the crucial phase of high-speed re-entry from orbit.
The Aerospace Structures Impact Lab (LISA), a crash test facility aimed at improving occupant and payload survival in case of impact and offering measurements much more precise than any other similar equipment available in Europe or the United States.
