Love is in the air at CERN’s HEARTS facility

Successful tests by industry and scientific users at CERN prepare electronic components for the harsh conditions of space

By Thomas Brent & Kate Kahle

The HEARTS project provides two European radiation testing facilities for space applications, one at CERN and the other at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany. (Image: HEARTS)

This Valentine’s Day, CERN shines a light on its HEARTS testing facility, loved by those who recently tested their components for the harsh conditions of space.

Late last year, the Large Hadron Collider ended a record-breaking year by colliding lead ions. The HEARTS@CERN facility took advantage of this period to test radiation effects with lead ions. Over the course of two weeks in November and December 2025, 16 companies and research institutes spent more than 200 irradiation hours at CERN testing electronic components and devices for use in space and for high-energy physics applications.

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