The IABG Space Center's new thermo-optical test facility for carrying out development and qualification tests on earth observation satellites and electro-optical systems goes into operation. Electro-optical systems make it possible to recognize even the smallest details on earth from space. They are not based on pattern recognition, but on the computer-aided conversion of data. Such systems have many uses, including in the areas of foreign and security policy, defense and climate and environmental policy: electro-optical methods can be used to assess forest damage from space, for example, or to record field structures and agricultural activity. As a manufacturer-independent competence center, it is therefore of strategic importance.