Fast and reliable methods for the determination of thermal properties of core materials for vacuum insu-lation panels (VIPs) are needed. It is of great importance to know the thermal performance of a VIP core atdifferent levels of vacuum and external loads. In this study a new self-designed device, consisting of twocylindrical cavities connected to a Transient Plane Source instrument, is used to determine the thermalconductivity of low-density nanoporous silica powders, from atmospheric pressure down to 0.1 mbarwhile applying different levels of external pressure up to 4 bars. The study includes a brief theoreticaldiscussion of methods. The TPS is validated through comparison with available data for commercial silicaas well as through independent stationary measurements with a hot plate apparatus and with a TransientHot Bridge method. The different materials illustrate clear but different trends for the thermal conductiv-ity as a function of the level of vacuum and external pressure. The analysis of experimental results showsthat the transient methods are less suitable for measuring the thermal conductivity of low-density sil-ica powders, especially for the cases when the density is less than a limit at which the heat transfer byradiation becomes dominant compared to pure conduction.