International Conference on Exotic Atoms and Related Topics - EXA2017

The CERN Antiproton Decelerator AD provides antiproton beams with the lowest possible kinetic energy 5.3 MeV possible with the given circumference of the machine to an active users community. The Extra Low Energy Antiproton ring (ELENA) is a small synchrotron with a circumference of 30.4 m, a factor 6 smaller than the AD, to further decelerate antiprotons from the AD from 5.3 MeV to 100 keV. Controlled deceleration in a synchrotron equipped with an electron cooler to reduce emittances in all three planes will allow the existing AD experiments to increase substantially their antiproton capture efficiencies and render new experiments possible. A status report on the ELENA project and, in particular, on ELENA ring commissioning taking place at present will be given.