Petawatt laser first shot by the King of Spain

Last 18th September, the King and the Queen of Spain presided over the commissioning of the first Spanish petawatt laser – called VEGA and manufactured by Amplitude Laser – in the Pulsed Lasers Center (CLPU) facility in Salamanca (Spain) . They were accompanied by the current Spanish Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Pedro Duque, and the director of CLPU, professor Luis Roso, among other authorities. VEGA is one of only three petawatt lasers in the world capable of being fired once per second. With this state-of the-art equipment, the CLPU becomes a center of international reference in scientific and technological research in the field of intense pulsed lasers.

Picture by David ARRANZ (EL PAIS)