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.
ESA BA AMBASSADOR GERMANY 2022-2026
The objective of this activity is to execute the overall implementation and management of an ESA Business Applications Ambassador Platform in Germany to help encourage new activities for ESA Business Applications. This shall include the following main activities:- Generate new activities for ESA Business Applications through supporting the submission of:- 24 Activity Pitch Questionnaires (APQs) to the Call for Proposals in Downstream Applicati…
DC/DC CONVERTER WITH HIGH VOLTAGE INPUT FOR HIGH POWER TELECOM SATELLITES (ARTES 4.0 AT 4F.165)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a DC/DC converter (at least 1kW and up to 5kW range) breadboard with an input voltage of up to 300 V.Targeted Improvements:- Increase bus voltage levels up to 300 V,- Reduce harness mass by morethan 100 kg (in high power platforms),- Reduce power losses by 90%.Description:Current electrical units only operate up to 100 V. However, employing bus voltages in excess of 100V, could s…
ESA BUSINESS APPLICATIONS AMBASSADOR NORWAY 2023 TO 2026 - EXPRO PLUS
The Ambassador shall raise awareness of the potential of space-based data, information and technologies to drive innovation in non-space application domains, and of the ESA BASS and other relevant ESA programme opportunities inside relevant non-space networks; the Ambassador shall recruit, mobilise and support companies that would be in the best position to benefit from ARTES funding in orderto advance their business concept.The Business Appli…
L-BAND GALLIUM NITRIDE LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER-BASED RF FRONT-END (ARTES AT 5C.465) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of the activity is to design a compact L-band RF front-end for telecom applications which is based on a GaN Low NoiseAmplifier (LNA). A breadboard of a GaN microwave monolithic integrated circuit will be developed and tested. The RF front-end including the filtering function shall be modelled.Targeted Improvements: up to 30% mass and volume saving of the RF front-end (LNA and filtering) and 20 dB improvement of the LNA dynamic ra…
VERY LOW EARTH ORBIT GAS GENERATOR FOR AIR-BREATHING ELECTRIC PROPULSION GROUND TESTING (ARTES 4.0 AT 4B.174)
The objective of the activity is to develop, build and test a gas generator to reproduce the gas flow density and composition of a Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) environment with high fidelity for on-ground testing of air-breathing electric propulsion systems.Targeted Improvements:Enabling a European gas generators for ground testing of VLEO missions.Description: Electric propulsion technologies developed for Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) applicati…
CIVIL SECURITY FROM SPACE PROGRAMME - STANDARD CALL FOR PROPOSAL
This Call for Proposals covers the industry initiated activities for the Civil Security for Space programme.
IN-ORBIT W-BAND CHANNEL CHARACTERISATION FROM GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT (ARTES AT 3E.018) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of the activity is to carry out characterisation of the W-band channel affected by diurnal and long duration atmospheric changes, enabling future W-band system sizing. The activity will design, develop and test a W-band terminal hosted on a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) spacecraft, and the associated ground terminals. Targeted Improvements:Increase in the acquisition time of W-band channel measurements for stable atmospheric pa…
PREPARATION OF WRC-2023 (ARTES FPE 1D.021)
The latest World Radio Conference (WRC) concluded at the end of November 2019 with outcomes considered broadly favourable to the satcom community. The agenda items for the subsequent conference (to be held in 2023) were also agreed at last year's conference. The WRC is effectively a multi-year process culminating in the month-long collocated sessions, and work on the agenda items for WRC-23 has therefore already started and will continue…
UNCOORDINATED SATELLITE ACCESS SCHEME OVER-THE-AIR DEMONSTRATION IN MARITIME VHF BANDS (ARTES AT 3C.030) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test signal reception techniques that enable uncoordinated satellite access schemesin the maritime bands for VHF Data Exchange (VDE) by a population of maritime transmitters in the presence of in-band interference from maritime and external sources such as in-land terrestrial services. The techniques will be implemented and evaluated in a prototype receiver to be developed as part of the activity…
AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES FOR LOW-NOISE APPLICATIONS IN OPTICAL/QUANTUM COMMUNICATIONS AT 1550NM. (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 6C.037)
Objective: The objective of the activity is to demonstrate novel III-V avalanche photodiodes (APD) for use at 1550 nm wavelength with significant performance improvements over available InGaAs APD devices. Targeted Improvements:Up to 5 times improvement in detector sensitivity, lower dark current and higher gain-bandwidth product compared to currently available InGaAs APDs. Description: While very good InGaAs APDs are commercially available, t…
OUTPUT BUTLER MATRIX WITH INHERENT FILTERING FUNCTIONS (ARTES 4.0 AT 5C.495)
The objective of this activity is to develop a concept of a high-power output Butler matrix with integrated filtering transfer functions for multiport power amplifiers. The concept will be implemented and experimentally tested (including high power testing) in anengineering model with critical functions in Q, Ka or Ku band.Targeted Improvements:- 30% mass and size reduction.- Number of parts reduced of a factor 3.Description: Advanced telecomm…
MULTI-LAYERED SATCOM SYSTEMS ( ARTES FPE 1B.131)
Whilst the commercial Satcom sector has been dominated by the use of Geostationary orbits (GSO) from its inception, the use of Non-Geostationary Orbits (NGSO) has been a constant and steadily growing feature of the industry for some years now. Historically, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) systems served entirely separate markets and customers to systems deployed in GEO with little overlap between the two technology/application areas. E.g. Low data rate…
OPERATIONS DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT FOR OPTICAL AND QUANTUM GROUND INFRASTRUCTURE (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 6C.031) - EXPRO+
Objective: To provide initial operational development support to optical ground stations (OGS) developed within the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) and the ESA nucleus ground station networks.Targeted Improvements: Tenfold increase in the operational readiness by optical and quantum communication ground stations.Description: Multiple European telescope sites have been identified to support ESA programs ScyLight, HydRON…
IN-ORBIT EXPERIMENT OF BEYOND LINE-OF-SIGHT GROUND TO LEO LINKS USING IONOSPHERIC REFRACTION (ARTES AT 3E.002) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of the activity is to test the performance of beyond line-of-sight narrow-band communication links between ground andLEO satellites in operational conditions. One of the key aspects of the experiment is the effect of ionospheric refraction and reflection as an enabler of satellite links beyond the line of sight. The activity will include the development of a small payload and aground terminal. Targeted Improvements:Enabling new s…
DEMISABLE PRIMARY STRUCTURAL JOINTS FOR LOW EARTH ORBIT TELECOM PLATFORMS (ARTES 4.0 AT 4E.090)
The objective of this activity is to design, manufacture and test demisable primary structural joints suitable for future low Earthorbit (LEO) satellite communication platforms. Targeted improvements:- Increase compliance of LEO satcom platforms to the ESA on-ground casualty risk requirement (current threshold 1:10000) by one order of magnitude.- Enabling direct heat flux to internal unitsduring re-entry to facilitate demisability.Description:…
Q/V/W-BAND INTEGRATED FREQUENCY CONVERTERS FOR FUTURE VERY HIGH THROUGHPUT SATELLITES (ARTES 4.0 AT 5C.500)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test Q/V/W-band frequency converters based on a single chip core MMIC for telecommunication payloads employing Digital Transparent Processors (DTP).Targeted Improvements:- Footprint and mass reduced bya factor of 10.- Power consumption reduced by a factor of 3 to 5.Description:For Digital Transparent Processors (DTP) pre- and post-processors are needed in order to up- and down convert…
EMBEDDED THRUST VECTOR TILTING TECHNOLOGY BASED ON SMART DEVICES (ARTES AT 4B.168)
The objective is to develop, manufacture and test a miniaturised lightweight mechanical tilting technology suitable for thruster assemblies and to demonstrate its functional performance. The main actuation function shall be based on smart active technologies (e.g. shape memory, piezo, electroactive polymers).Targeted Improvements:mass saving by about 30% and an overall envelope reduction by about 30%Description:The increased need for agility b…
RESILIENT AND SECURE MULTIMEDIA COMMUNICATIONS FROM UNMANNED AERIAL/MARITIME VEHICLES USING MULTIPLE UNRELIABLE NETWORKS (ARTES 4.0 4S SPL 3A.172) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of this activity is the design and demonstration of network protocols that can use multiple unreliable satellite and terrestrial networks for increased resilience and security for retrieval of multimedia data with multiple QoS classes from drones and unmanned maritime vessels. Targeted Improvements: This technique will allow at least 50% increase in the number of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) that can be supported in the same s…
BATTERIES BASED ON EUROPEAN COMMERCIAL OF THE SHELF BATTERY CELL TECHNOLOGY (ARTES AT 4F.145) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of this activity is to develop, design, manufacture and test a battery with European Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) battery cells for telecom space applications. Targeted Improvements:- At least 20% mass reduction at battery level;- Enabling European independency and continuity of technology sourcing. Description: Current state-of-the-art space Li-Ion cell technology can provide around 180 Wh/kg, while Li-Ion COTS cell technolog…
HANDOVER, DATA ROUTING AND RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR VERY LOW EARTH ORBIT (VLEO) BROADBAND CONSTELLATIONS (ARTES 4.0 AT 3C.043)
The objective of this activity is to develop and test handover, data routing and radio resource management techniques for a broadband satellite constellation in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO). The techniques will be implemented, and their performance assessed in a software system testbed. Targeted Improvements:Enabling system techniques for VLEO broadband systems not existing today in ESA member states.Description: The VLEO orbit is now the centr…
HOLOMONDAS OBSERVATORY UPGRADES FOR OPTICAL AND QUANTUM COMMUNICATION (ARTES 4.0 SPL OPTICAL COMMUNICATION - SCYLIGHT 6C.013 / SL.049)
Objective: To develop transmit and receive systems for optical communication and the reception of quantum keys. Targeted Improvements: Tenfold speed increase in data rates by optical communication between satellites and ground and implementation of a cyber-securequantum channel. Description: The Holomondas telescope has been identified to support the ESA programs ScyLight, HydRON as well as the SAGA Project for the preparation of the space seg…
EURIALO DEMONSTRATOR
The Project 's overarching objective is to design develop and test of an in flight demonstrator representative of a novel satellite-based independent European surveillance system. The final system objectives being to prove that aircraft positioning obtained through a satellite based only system can provide complementary Air Traffic Management (ATM) surveillance services in accordance with aircraft positioning requirements , without rel…
RADIO SPECTRUM SITUATIONAL AWARENESS FUNCTIONS EMBEDDED IN TELECOMMAND/TELEMETRY RECEIVERS (ARTES 4.0 4S SPL 5C.481)
The objective of the activity is to develop RF situational awareness functions for telemetry and telecommand receivers. Algorithms and a test-bed shall be developed and experimentally tested in laboratory conditions based on several representative operational cases.Targeted Improvements: Enabling interference and signal identification and classification using telecommand and telemetry signals. Description:Information obtained from RF (Radio Fr…
CRITICAL FUNCTIONS CONTROLLER FOR LOW EARTH ORBIT SATELLITES (ARTES AT 4G.036)
The objective of this activity is to develop and test a critical function controller for On-Board Computers (OBC) for new space, Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components-based missions. A reusable IP core will be developed that will be able to perform critical OBC functions, such as provide communication with ground stations, allow ground control access for deorbiting and act as a controller for the main OBC, thus increasing overall reliabil…
GREEK CONNECTIVITY OPTICAL GROUND STATIONS
Short activity description: This activity will convert three astronomical sites in Greece (Helmos on the Peloponnese, Skinakas on Crete and Holomondas near Thessaloniki) into optical ground stations (OGS) that shall be able to perform optical communication and quantum key distribution operations. Those operations will initially not be required 24/7 and it must be possible to (quickly) change their optical configurations back to perform astrono…