ARTES 1 - WORK PLAN 2015

Description

The particular objectives of Artes Element 1 are to: 1)Perform mission, system, general configuration studies and other activitiesto prepare and continuously update the medium and long-term programme of ESA in the field of Telecommunication. 2)Define the technology developments necessary for the execution of the telecommunication programme and their timing and provide these requirements as inputs for the technology programmes definition to be undertaken in other elements of ARTES. The specific tasks of this programme element are listed hereunder: Perform prospective studies, market surveys and economic analysis in order to identify future mission requirements and their timing in the fields of Telecommunications and space communication infrastructures such as Data Relay Systems. From the projected mission requirements and the advances in technology identify the need for system and hardware development and in-orbit experimentations.-Perform the mission system and initial studies that will be required in support of the definition of payload and spacecraft elements considered for development throughout the ARTES programme.-Promote existing and future ESA experimentalsystems and maintain contacts with the potential users, perform studies and establish the detailed plans for using the experimentalin-orbit communication capacity. -Prepare for future experimental missions and define new programme elements when required. -Support to operators as well as European telecommunications working groups whenever necessary. -Contribute to the international planning and regulatory effort (ITU, CCIR) with special regard to frequency allocation and support to the Standardization.-Provide telecommunication support to other disciplines. -Support the European Commission programmes in defining the role of satellites in overall communications networks. -Allow for preliminary laboratory experimentation of system concepts (e.g. modelling of antennas, simulations, software development). The first two tasks would be done in liaison with or using input from operating agencies and users in their field of competence and deriving support from ad hoc advisory groups of external experts. ORGANISATION The activities are structured along 4 main categories (an activity may fall in several categories): -Support to strategy: this category contributes to the development of the Long–Term Plan (LTP). Included are activities addressing the understanding of the market opportunities, the performance of the European telecommunication satellite industry (weaknesses and strengths) and the evolutions of other technologies (threats). -Next generation systems and technologies: such activities are aimed at identifying the benefits of addressing a given market with new satellite systems. It is also aimed at defining technology and product development roadmaps (contributing as well to the LTP)through top-down analyses. Bottom-up identification of new technologies and their contribution to space or ground systems are addressedwithin this activity as well. New techniques relating to system planning, air interfaces and signal processing are also addressed within this category. -Integration with terrestrial systems: satellite based networks have to be integrated with terrestrial systems to ensure the widest use of their operational infrastructures. It is therefore necessary that interfaces between satellite networks and terrestrial networks be technically designed to ensure the seamless support of end-to-end protocols and the integrity of thecontent transferred over satellite networks. -Support to standardisation and special groups of interests: this group of activities dealswith the support of the industry to develop new satellite telecommunication standards (for instance within the European Telecommunication Standardisation Institute), and also to support their validation. These activities are also implemented to help develop com
mon European positioons on matters of spectrum policy and engineering, to develop joint European approaches on relevant subjects (e.g. interaction with the NetWorld2020–Satcom subgroup), or to support networks of experts (e.g. SatNex).

Tender Specifics