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Funding
This page displays the ARTES Invitation To Tenders (ITTs) which are published on ESA-STAR. If you are looking for a specific element select from the list provided and click on the Apply button to start the search and display the results.
Funding of the individual Prime or subcontractors, for ARTES Core Competitiveness and ARTES Applications activities, is subject to authorisation of the required ARTES budget by the related National Delegations. Therefore, bidding teams are requested to inform their National Delegation(s) of their intention to participate in funded activities already before submitting a proposal.
The official information platform for providing potential bidders all the relevant documentation and details concerning the intended and issued Invitations To Tender (ITTs) for Open Competitions and Direct Negotiations is ESA-STAR - managed and operated by the ESA Procurement Department.
COMPACT TRIBOLOGY-FREE POINTING MECHANISM (ARTES AT 4E.094)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a tribology-free mechanism breadboard for both platform and payload pointing applications on telecom satellites. The lifetime of the developed mechanism shall be assessed, and endurance testing shall be carried out. Targeted Improvements: Enabling a European source of compact, tribology-free pointing mechanisms with no backlash or friction hysteresis effects. Description: Today p…
CRITICAL BREADBOARDING ENABLING THE REMOVAL OF FAILED SMALL SATELLITES FROM LOW EARTH ORBIT (ARTES AT 4A.085) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test technologies enabling the removal of failed small satellites (e.g.tumbling) from low earth orbit. Several breadboards will be developed and tested to reduce tumbling and to enable rendezvous and capture.Targeted Improvements: Enabling de-orbiting of large constellations of low Earth orbit telecommunication satellites. Description: In the coming years it is expected that the numbe…
FACETED RECONFIGURABLE REFLECTOR BASED ON REFLECT ARRAY TECHNOLOGY (ARTES AT 5B.242)
The objective of this activity to design, manufacture and test a Ku- or Ka-band faceted reconfigurable reflect array operating in receive band for reconfigurable coverage applications. RF and thermo-elastic performance shall be experimentally evaluated.TargetedImprovements: - Reduction up to 20% the reflector aperture diameter in comparison to today's shape reflector technology.- Improvement of the directivity performance at the edge of t…
ARTES 4.0 SPL 4S 7B.077 - EMERGENCY LIGHTS FOR CARS IN DISTRESS WITH INTEGRATED TERRESTRIAL AND SATELLITE CONNECTIVITY (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test a prototype of the emergency car light device with direct to satellite communication capability in an emulated environment in laboratory.Procurement Policy: C(1) = Activity restricted to non-prime contractors(incl. SMEs). For additional information please go to:…
5G NEW RADIO (NR) NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORKS RELEASE 18 PROTOCOL STACK ENHANCEMENTS (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 3F.011)
The objective of this activity is to develop the software protocol stack for Release 18 enhancements related to 5G New for Radio (NR) for Non-Terrestrial Networks. The software protocol stack development shall be based on a testbed considering both the User Equipment (UE) and g-NodeB (gNB) features and operational procedures.Targeted Improvements:Enable 5G NR NTN system performance simulations with the latest Release 18 modifications.Descripti…
HIGH EFFICIENCY Q-BAND POWER AMPLIFIER MONOLITHIC MICROWAVE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FOR ACTIVE ANTENNAS (ARTES AT 5B.238)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a set of highly efficient (minimum 25% power added efficiency) Q-band Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMIC) for active antenna applications in GEO, MEO and LEO. The packaged devices will be based on European technology covering the 10 Watt power class (GEO) down to a few 100mWs for LEO applications. Targeted Improvements: Enabling critical building block technology deve…
BROADBAND TUNEABLE KA-BAND FREQUENCY MULTIPLEXERS (ARTES AT 5C.430) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of this activity is to design, manufacture and test two breadboards corresponding to a reconfigurable 4-channel 30 GHz low power Combiner Frequency Multiplexer (CMUX) and a 4-channel 20 GHz low power frequency Demultiplexer (DMUX). Targeted Improvements: Replacement of conventional fixed-bandwidth CMUX and DMUX equipment with a tuneable solution capable of supporting agile traffic management.Description: Current broadband satelli…
EARTH UPPER ATMOSPHERE FORECAST TOOL FOR MISSION DESIGN AND OPERATION (ARTES 4.0 AT 4C.066)
The objective is to develop a multi-model informed predictive tool of atmospheric parameter variability for mission design and operation.Targeted Improvements:- Enabling a new European tool allowing prediction of atmospheric conditions (e.g., density, composition, radiation) over time, including local state and total dose.- To reduce initial mission design margins hence avoiding overdesign.Description: The recent loss of several communication…
ADAPTIVE THERMAL CONTROL OF TELECOM SATELLITES (ARTES 4.0 AT 4D.082) (RE-ISSUE)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test a breadboard of an electrophoretic panel enabling adaptive thermal control on telecommunication spacecraft. Targeted Improvements:-Enabling technology to allow adaptive control of radiative surfaces.-Reduction in heater power of 40% and in radiator size of 30%. Description: Traditional thermal design balances emissivity and absorption parameters based on surface materials and/or coatings sel…
CATHODE FOR OXYGEN-RICH ENVIRONMENT (ARTES 4.0 AT 4B.172)
The objective of the activity is to develop, manufacture and test a cathode for use as a neutraliser in electric propulsion systemsand suitable for operation in an oxygen-rich environment for a long duration of time (e.g. >5 years).Targeted Improvements:Enabling cathode capable of operating in an oxygen-rich environment for more than a few hours.Description: Platforms operating in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) require prolonged and/or continu…
INVISIBLE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA TO PROVIDE BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY ON BOARD CARS (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 7C.094)
Objective: The objective is to develop and test a Ku or Ka band transparent phased array antenna to provide broadband connectivity on board cars. Targeted Improvements: Develop a new class of phased array antennas for cars able to guarantee a seamless broadband connectivity with LEO satellites. Description: There is today a significant interest to provide broadband connectivity to cars. This request is associated to the need to guarantee emerg…
AUTOMOTIVE S-BAND ANTENNA FOR SATELLITE IOT AND 5G TERRESTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS (ARTES SPL 5G 7C.062) (UPON DELEGATION REQUEST)
Upon Delegation Request (*) The objective of the activity is to develop, manufacture and test an integrated automotive S-band antenna that combines satellite IoT and 5G terrestrial communications. Targeted Improvements: Reduction of antenna form factor from a protruding antenna (e.g. shark fin shape) to planar antenna fully integrated in the car roof. Bandwidth increase from 30 to 90 MHz for satellite and 5G communications. Description: The In…
MODEL-BASED APPROACH FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED PAYLOAD APPLICATIONS (ARTES AT 5A.089)
The objective of the activity is to design, develop and test key building blocks for software defined payloads using a model-based approach. At least six building blocks implementing telecommunication application functions (e.g. signal processing, signal filtering, encryption, compression, etc.) shall be developed. At least two use case applications shall be developed, and the performance tested to validate the approach.Targeted Improvements:…
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD TECHNOLOGY FOR AUTOMOTIVE CONFORMAL ANTENNAS (ARTES 4.0 AT 7C.083)
The objective of the activity is to investigate, develop and test conformal Printed Circuit Board (PCB) technology using a novel approach, such as additive manufacturing to "print" the antenna for the automotive market. Targeted Improvements: Enabling conformal board of patches with distribution feed and integration of amplifiers on the reverse side, able to follow the shape of a car roof. Description: Conventional PCB technology is…
5G NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORK SECURE TWO-WAY RANGING FOR LEO SATELLITES (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 3F.022)
Study, design and validate a secure two-way ranging protocol relying on 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) in LEO.Targeted Improvements:Enable secure two-way ranging via future LEO 5G satcom services for target applications such as IoT sensors.Description:All GNSS systems are principally based on one-way ranging and as such they are fundamentally vulnerable to spoofing and/or meaconing attacks, even in the presence of GNSS security mechanisms su…
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR DIGITAL TWIN OF ATTITUDE AND ORBIT CONTROL SYSTEM EQUIPMENTS (ARTES 4.0 AT 4C.068)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test a cyber-physical modelling for a Digital Twin of AOCS sensors. A multi-physic model-based Digital Twin can be used to perform on-board self-calibration employing data-driven techniques and simplify the ground verification of new satellite platforms by having a direct dispersion of the different parameters, hence reducing complex Monte Carlodispersions. Targeted Improvements: Enabling on-boar…
IN-ORBIT DEMONSTRATION OF A NARROW BAND INTERNET OF THINGS (NB-IOT) INTER-SATELLITE DATA RELAY (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 3E.023)
The objective of this activity is to proof that a standardised existing solution such as NB-IOT can be used for satellite-to-satellite low data rate communications. Targeted Improvements: Introduce world's first standardised intersatellite data relay solution based on 3GPP NTN standards, opening up a new market for new companies and telecom operators toprovide data solutions to Earth Observation missions via intersatellite data relay. Des…
DVB ENERGY SAVING DELIVERY OF CONTENT (ARTES AT 3A.201)
Objective: The objective of the activity is to design, develop and test protocols and system level approaches for energy saving video content distribution in satellite telecommunication networks. A testbed will be developed to evaluate the energy savings achievedin real networks considering the different video codecs, air interfaces and video quality. The output shall be available to the DVBstandardisation EADC (Energy Aware Delivery and Consu…
ARTES 4.0 SPL OPTICAL COMMUNICATION - SCYLIGHT: INTEGRATED OPTICAL INTERFACES FOR RF PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS (5F.013 / SL.030)
Objective:The objective of the activity is to analyse and demonstrate the benefits of replacing coaxial cables/waveguides with fibre optics in large RF phased array antennas. The activity shall identify the best technologies to be employed and it will design, manufacture and test 2 breadboard demonstrators covering both analogue and digital transmission.Targeted Improvements:Order of magnitude mass and volume reduction by substituting the pass…
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/MACHINE LEARNING FRONT-END MODULE FOR SATCOM 5G/6G INTEGRATED ACCESS-BACKHAUL TRANSCEIVERS (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 6B.119)
The objective of the activity is to develop, implement and test a breadboard of a digital transceiver front-end capable of switching between access and backhaul modes of operation for integrated satcom-terrestrial 5G/6G networks. The transceiver core shall be supported by an AI/ML engine implemented for a set of commercially available hardware and software platforms. The activity shall also provide the testbed to test the AI/ML-based transceiv…
FREQUENCY COORDINATION DEMONSTRATOR FOR NON-GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE SYSTEMS (ARTES AT 3A.153) (RE-ISSUE OF ITT 1-11179)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test a demonstrator of a frequency coordination system that manages access to spectrum among different non-geostationary satellite systems. The concept will be implemented and tested as a real-time emulator to be developed as part of the activity.Targeted improvements: Improving the achievable throughput by 50% with respect to partitioning the frequency band.Description:The increasing number of c…
ASSESSMENT OF 5G NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORKS (NTN) WITH SUB-6GHZ TIME DIVISION DUPLEXING (TDD) COMMUNICATIONS (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 3F.017)
The objective is to carry out an assessment of the NTN deployment of the 5G NR air interface in TDD mode and identification of technology gaps and constraints. Develop a software testbed implementing and testing the scenario.Improve the overall spectrum utilisation by up to 50% when using Time Division Duplex communication as per 3GPP standard.The 3GPP has specified for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) the n255 and n256 bands, both operating in…
ARTES 4.0 SPL OPTICAL COMMUNICATION - SCYLIGHT: RF AND OPTICAL HYBRID GATEWAY ANTENNA (6C.002/SL.024)(ON DELEGATION REQUEST) - EXPRO PLUS
Objective:The objective of this activity is to investigate a telecom gateway antenna able to work simultaneously in both the RF (Ka- Q/V-Band) and optical wavelengths.Targeted Improvements:This product is currently not available and it would allow a phased migration from RF communications to optical communications.Description:There is a clear trend in the need to increase bandwidth in order to increase the data rate, within the telecommunicat…
SPECTRUM SHARING TECHNIQUES FOR BEYOND 5G (B5G) AND 6G 3D NETWORKS (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 3A.185)
The objective of the activity is to investigate and develop spectrum reuse and sharing techniques for integrated NTN-TN 3D networksthat allow them to pool, share, and rapidly reallocate spectrum on demand among their heterogeneous components/segments. The techniques will be prototyped in a testbed to be implemented as part of the activity.Targeted improvements:Enabling spectrum reuse and sharing in integrated NTN-NT 3D networks.Description:Spe…
POWER EFFICIENT USER PLANE FUNCTIONS FOR B5G SMALL SATELLITE PLATFORMS (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 3F.016)
Objective:The objective of this activity is to develop and test a power efficient 5G User Plane Function (UPF) prototype, implemented onto space enabled hardware platforms. The development will leverage concrete laboratory results of various RAN splits and compensate for their impact on the 5G protocol stack. Finally, system integration with a ground segment control plane will be tested, over emulated LEO constellationsTargeted Improvements:-…