At European Microwave Week (EuMW), ERZIA Key Account Manager Elena Al Khalaf tells Electronic Specifier’s contributing editor, Mark Gradwell, how the company is balancing rapid growth with uncompromising quality.
ERZIA, the RF and microwave company based in Santander, northern Spain, is in the middle of a period of fast expansion. Al Khalaf explains how the firm’s New Space range is performing a year after launch, and where defence customers are pushing the technology.
Who is ERZIA?
Founded in 2022, ERZIA designs and manufactures high-power amplifiers and low-noise amplifiers. It also produces what it calls integrated microwave assemblies, a product line that designs complete subsystems.
“[Last year] … we launched a New Space product line that is an enhanced version of our standard COTS, but for the New Space market,” Al Khalaf said.
New Space, one year on
Al Khalaf explains that the market has responded well to the line and the company has launched 13 amplifiers aimed at LEO, MEO, and cislunar missions.
“At the end of the day, reliability in a short time without compromising quality is what the New Space industry is looking for,” she said. “We have delivered, for a LEO constellation, more than 200 amplifiers. They included both standard COTS and custom modules, and they were delivered in 24 weeks, since the purchase order was received until their final delivery time.”
What makes a COTS amplifier flight-worthy?
According to Al Khalaf, the New Space products are designed and enhanced specifically for orbital use. “They include radiation-tolerant components. Also, we have outgassing-compatible materials. Then we have the vacuum-ready housings, and then enhanced testing and analysis.”
As an example of that testing, the amplifiers go through “10 cycles TVAC from -40 to + 85oC.”
Defence is a congested spectrum
On the defence side, Al Khalaf noted a growing challenge. “There is one thing that we need to take into account, which is the electromagnetic spectrum. Nowadays, it is more congested and contested than ever.”
Electronic warfare and radar customers are asking for wider bandwidths, along with smaller and lighter hardware, all in one module. That is where the company’s integrated microwave assemblies come in.
“We design custom systems according to the most demanding specifications,” she said. “Those systems include amplification, filtering, frequency conversion, in one rugged package. And that’s what our customers are looking for.”
Growth without cutting corners
ERZIA has expanded quickly in recent years. Al Khalaf says: “ERZIA for the last years have grown and doubled the people and capacity.” A new clean room is also on the way to the Santander site. “We have been working on it and hopefully by the end of this year, it will be ready.”
Al Khalaf explains that, for ERZIA, scaling a company whilst producing high-quality results is more than words on a page. “Quality for us is not a department, it’s a mindset. We are certified by ISO 9001 and 9100. But as I said, it’s a mindset, and for us, growth means that every unit that we deliver should meet the standards.”
Quick-fire questions
Wrapping up, Gradwell posed a few rapid-fire questions to Al Khalaf, starting with the perennial GaN versus GaAs debate.
“Normally for GaN, we use it for HPAs and GaAs for LNAs,” she said. “Some engineers will say that depends, which is true, but I would say our customers normally use GaN for the HPAs and GaAs for LNAs.”
LEO or deep space? “LEO keeps us busy, but deep space makes us proud.”
Summing up ERZIA in 2027. Al Khalaf said “Further” in reference to the company’s slogan.
You can watch the full interview below.
