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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.
WEATHER-PROOF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION GROUND TERMINAL (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 6C.050 ) EXPRO PLUS
The objective of this activity is to evaluate the pros and cons of a weather-proof optical ground terminal (without protective domeenclosure) and to breadboard critical sub-systems. Targeted Improvements:At least 50% faster optical ground station deployment.Description:Today telescopes for ground based free-space optical satellite communication are originating from astronomical telescopes. The current need for optical ground telescopes has cha…
DEVELOPMENT OF A SOFTWARE BASED GENERIC OPTICAL GROUND STATION MODEL (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 6B.126)
The objective of this activity is to develop and test a software platform acting as an abstraction layer between the optical groundstation software client and the various software and hardware modules and their interfaces. Software implementation to be agnostic to operating systems and shall be based on object-oriented techniques to enable creation of a generic optical ground station model prior to programming. Testing shall and use commercial…
COMPACT, HIGH TEMPERATURE AND MODULAR 100 W-CLASS ELECTRONIC POWER CONDITIONER FOR KU- AND KA-BAND TRAVELLING WAVE TUBES (ARTES AT 5C.514)
The objective of this activity is to develop and test a modular 100W-class Ku- and Ka-band universal compact Electronic Power Conditioner (EPC) based on MHz-range switching frequency, high temperature, wide bandgap technology and planar magnetics. This will include an efficient thermal management design.Targeted Improvements: - Mass, footprint and volume reduction up to 30% whilst maintaining efficiency comparable to current state of art.- Com…
POWER EFFICIENT ONBOARD ANALOGUE PHOTONIC INTERCONNECTS FOR HIGH THROUGHPUT SATELLITES (HTS) (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 5F.050)
The objective of the activity is to develop very low power analogue photonic interconnects for linking antennas to the on-board digital processor in high throughput satellites, also in view of an all-optical satellite implementationTargeted Improvements:Increase connector density by 100% through the replacement of the coaxial cable connectors with multi-fibre connectors, more than halvingthe harness mass and volume linking the antennas to the…
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…
SECURITY ASSESSMENT, TESTING AND VALIDATION CAPABILITY FOR INNOVATIVE SECURE COMMUNICATIONS AND QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES (ARTES 4.0 4S SPL 3D.018) RE-ISSUE
The objectives of the activity are to identify the needs and requirements for new security assessment capabilities for satcom systems and their components, define related architectural solutions and develop prototypes of the main components of these capabilities.Targeted Improvements: Enabling testing, verification and validation of advanced technologies in the domain of cybersecurity, modern telecom and quantum security (Quantum Key Distribut…
5G AUTOMOTIVE ANTENNA PROTOTYPE AND DEMONSTRATION (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 7C.084)
The objective is to design and demonstrate a new class of low-profile and conformal antennas, providing seamless connectivity for 5G services on vehicles.Targeted Improvements:Enabling technology Satellite antennas compatible with the constrains of the automotive markets (in terms of aesthetics, aerodynamics and safety), whilst providing seamless connectivity, are currently not available.Description:The automotive sector is a crucial target gr…
IN ORBIT EXPERIMENT OF AUTONOMOUS DEPLOYMENT AND EARLY OPERATIONS FOR TELECOM CONSTELLATION SATELLITES (ARTES AT 3E.024) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of this activity is to design and perform an in-orbit experiment investigating autonomous deployment and early operations for telecom constellation satellites. This includes the development of command and data-handling hardware as well as AI/ML based operational algorithms developed on-ground.Targeted Improvements: Increase of onboard autonomy by 50% (i.e. include the key number of autonomous functions), including attitude acquis…
ROLLABLE AND DEPLOYABLE REFLECT-TRANSMIT ARRAY ANTENNAS (ARTES AT 5B.237)
Objective: The objective is to develop, manufacture and test a breadboard of a lightweight, rollable, passive reflect-array or transmit-array deployed antenna. This shall operate at L- or Sband and have an aperture area of at least 5 square metre.Targeted Improvements: Enabling technology for large aperture deployable antennas based on a simple, reliable and robust mechanical deployment scheme, not existing today in ESA member states.Descripti…
KA-BAND TRANSMIT SPARSE ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY AND BEAMFORMING NETWORKS FOR NGSO USER LINKS (ARTES AT 5B.240)
The objective of this activity is to design, manufacture and test a partial RF breadboard of a transmit Ka-band, active phased array antenna and associated beamforming network for user links NGSO, exploiting irregular layouts for the radiating elements and beamforming networks.Targeted Improvements: In comparison to a standard, fully populated array:- 25% reduction in the number of active controls,- 5% increase in the DC to RF power efficiency…
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…
END-TO-END DEMONSTRATION OF 5G NEW RADIO (NR) FOR FUTURE RAILWAY MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 7C.086)
The objective of this activity is to develop the necessary 5G New Radio (NR) ground segment prototypes for servicing the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) via satellite and demonstrate the capability with end-to-end in orbit testing.Targeted improvements:Ensure compliance to the FRMCS safety and performance requirements by demonstrating the feasibility of servicing via a satellite link, complementing the terrestrial network. P…
PIONEER PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS (PIONEER 4.0) - OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSAL
The Pioneer programme, implemented under the ARTES 4.0 Generic Programme Line "Partnership Projects", aims to supports the emergence of Space Mission Providers (SMPs), i.e. commercial entities interested in becoming one-stop-shop service providers for public and private customers. The Open Call for proposals is aimed to offer the opportunity for new companies from across all ESA member statesto participate in the programme. It will b…
CYBERSECURITY AUDITING SUITCASE FOR SATELLITE COMMUNICATION NETWORKS ( ARTES 4.0 SPL 4S 3D.024)
The objective of the activity is to design, develop and test in a representative environment a portable auditing tool prototype to assess VSAT networks security from the wireless interface.
HIGH IMPULSE ARGON ELECTRIC THRUSTER (ARTES AT 4B.181)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test an electric thruster using Argon propellant, compatible with the long lifetime and high total impulse requirements of telecommunication satellites in GEO and for constellations.Targeted Improvements:- Novel capability to operate with Argon propellant not existing today.- Improved lifetime and Total Impulse per kW(N.s/kW) by a factor of 2.- Decreased complexity of the thruster arc…
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…
POWER EFFICIENT DESIGN OF RADIO FREQUENCY PAYLOAD ALGORITHMS ON SYSTEM ON CHIP (ARTES AT 5C.513)
The objective of the activity is to identify and benchmark power efficient radio frequency algorithms on complex System on Chip (SoC) devices. Power efficient algorithms for at least two applications case (e.g. beamforming, decoding/encoding, neural networks...) will be designed, developed and tested and compared to programmable logic only implementation.Targeted Improvements: 50% reductionpower consumption for radio frequency algorithms with…
AGILE ULTRA HIGH FREQUENCY (UHF) TO KU-BAND TRANSCEIVER FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN CRISIS SITUATIONS (ARTES 4.0 SPL 4S 7C.092)
The objective of this activity is to design and develop a UHF/Ku transceiver prototype for communications used by governmental users (i.e.+ first responders) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) within an area of crisis+ compatible with all Ku-band service providers.
ONBOARD DATA HANDLING SUB-SYSTEM FOR AUTONOMOUS SATELLITES (ARTES AT 4G.044)
The objective is to develop an onboard data handling architecture capable of autonomously acquiring, processing and interpreting housekeeping and telemetry data and taking the required actions without ground intervention. The activity will develop a data handlingsub-system demonstrator to validate the intelligent functionalities, including prognostic and health management (PHM) capabilitiesTargeted Improvements: Enabling technology development…
ARTES 4.0 SPL OPTICAL COMMUNICATION - SCYLIGHT : DEMONSTRATION OF RELIABLE HIGH DATA RATE OPTICAL LINKS UNDER STRONG ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE CONDITIONS (3B.042 / SL.015)
Objective:The objective of this activity is to demonstrate reliable high data rate optical transmission through the atmosphere (>100Gbps) in a scenario representative (in terms of link attenuation and optical turbulence) of an optical link between a telecom satellite and an Optical Ground Station for elevation angles down to 5deg. Targeted Improvements:Improve the service quality and availability of high data rate optical links through the…
10W PER MM CLASS THERMALLY ENHANCED HIGH EFFICIENCY MICROWAVE POWER AMPLIFIERS (ARTES 4.0 AT 5C.491) (RE-ISSUE)
The objective of this activity is to design, manufacture and test a breadboard of a high-power amplifier in Ku-band or above with 10 W/mm class of power density in continuous wave operation. The selected manufacturing process will allow a smaller chip size with reduced junction temperature, reduced thermal memory effects and improved efficiency.Targeted Improvements:- 3-5 times improvementin power density.- Junction temperature reduction of te…
W-BAND HIGH POWER AMPLIFIER FOR THE GROUND SEGMENT (ARTES AT 6B.120) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
Objective: The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a W-band HPA for the ground segment. Targeted Improvements: Enabling W-band feeder uplink communications. Description: The use of W-band (71-76 GHz for downlink and 81-86 for uplink GHz) is expected to significantly increase the available bandwidth for Very High Throughput Satellite Systems (VHTS). W-band spectrum is also expected to reduce the number of gateways requi…
ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE EFFECT MITIGATION BY SECONDARY MIRROR ACTUATION (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 6C.020)
Objective: The objective of this activity is to simplify optical feeder links systems in Optical Ground Stations by replacing the secondary mirror with an active (deformable) one and to demonstrate the improvement in transmission budget and complexity. Targeted Improvements: 30% increased optical throughput in optical communication ground stations. 20% reduction of complexity in adaptive optics and beam pre-distortion in feeder-link systems. R…
DIGITAL TWIN FOR ON-ORBIT ASSEMBLY AND MANUFACTURING OF VERY LARGE ANTENNAS (ARTES AT 5B.235)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test a digital-twin for on-orbit assembly and manufacturing of antennas up to 30-50metres diameter. An end-to-end manufacturing process will be selected and guidance, navigation and control techniques for assembly and manufacturing on-orbit will be developed. A simple large reflector antenna will be designed, and assembly and manufacturing will be evaluated with the developed digital twin.Targete…
LUNAR LASER COMMUNICATION TERMINAL (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 5G.045)
Objective: The objective of the activity is to first design a Laser Communication Terminal (LCT) concept suitable for communicationover lunar distances. In a second step, the activity will develop an engineering model of a CCSDS compatible transceiver with critical functions including coding, synchronisation, and modulation. Targeted Improvements: Enabling a European or Canadian lunar communication terminal operating with a data rate one order…