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.
USER TERMINAL SIGNALLING FOR NON-GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE NETWORKS (ARTES 4.0 AT 7B.074)
The objective of the activity is to design, implement and validate signalling and control techniques for satellite user terminals in a non-geostationary satellite network where the user terminals can login and function in the network without necessarily relying on the assistance from global navigation satellite services. Targeted Improvements: Enable autonomous commissioning, login and operation of satellite user terminals within a non-geostat…
PACKAGING OF PHOTONICS FOR LASER COMMUNICATION TERMINALS (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 5F.029)
Objective: The objective of the activity is to develop and test different sized packaging solutions with optical and electronic feed-throughs, which allow commercial photonic chips to be deployed in space. Targeted Improvements: By developing innovative packagingtechniques, some types of high-volume parts developed for terrestrial telecommunications markets can be made available for space. Description: This activity aims to establish a packagi…
SMART MANUFACTURING SOFTWARE TOOL TO ENABLE GREEN MANUFACTURING FOR SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS (ARTES 4.0 AT 4E.091)
The objective of the activity is to develop software methods to demonstrate the reduction in environmental impact of applying smartmanufacturing techniques, in comparison to conventional manufacturing approaches. This will be demonstrated on a primary structuralpart (e.g. main load bearing panel or central tube) for a typical telecommunication satellite platform.Targeted Improvements:- 30% material usage reduction in comparison to conventional…
ON-BOARD AUTONOMOUS COLLISION AVOIDANCE DETECTION TESTBED (ARTES 4.0 AT 4C.065)
The objective of the activity is to design, develop, and test an on-board Autonomous Collision Avoidance Detection (OCAD) system for satellites.Targeted Improvements:Enabling a ground-independent, on-board collision avoidance detection system.Description: The large number of commercial and institutional satellites is posing a serious risk of accidental collisions, which at present is mitigated by time-consuming collision avoidance procedures b…
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…
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…
SECURITY SOLUTIONS AND SECURITY TEST BED FOR NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORKS (ARTES SPL 5G 3D.005) (RE-ISSUE)
The objective of the activity is to develop and validate solutions for the security vulnerabilities introduced by the adoption of 5G features in Satcom networks. The developments will be validated in an end-to-end 5G Satcom test bed to be implemented as part of the activity. The test bed will be developed to serve as a platform for the development, testing, validation and satellite live demonstration of future security solutions for 3GPP Non-T…
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…
DEMONSTRATOR OF A RECONFIGURABLE Q-BAND FEEDER LINK MULTIBEAM ANTENNA FOR HIGH-CAPACITY GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES (ARTES 4.0 AT 5B.224)
Objective:The objective of the activity is to develop and test a scalable, generic and reconfigurable multibeam transmit antenna architecture for feeder links operating in Q-band and supporting high-capacity geostationary broadband multimedia missions.TargetedImprovements:- Replacement of multiple (typically two or more) feeder link reflector antennas by a single antenna.- System deployment before finalisation of the gateway locations (6-12 mo…
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…
KA-BAND RADIO FREQUENCY FRONT-END RESISTANT TO INTENTIONAL INTERFERENCE FOR SECURE TTC (ARTES 4.0 4S SPL 4G.041)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a Scaled Engineering Model of rugged Ka-band RF front-end for secure TTC applications that will enable technologies for mitigation of intentional interference. Targeted Improvements: Ability to operate under severe Radio Frequency Interference. Description: TTC is a key equipment for all satellites since it provides the umbilical cord to the control station(s). It has to operate…
COMPACT LOW FREQUENCY HIGH POWER BANDPASS FILTER FOR SMALL TELECOMMUNICATION SATELLITES (ARTES AT 5E.024)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a compact VHF/UHF high power filter for small satellites using advanced manufacturing processes.Targeted Improvements:- 40% reduction in footprint compared to the state of the art- at least 40% loss reduction compared to planar technologies and- up to 30 W RF power handlingDescription: Small satellites (mass less than 250kg) operating in lower Earth orbit are increasingly used fo…
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…
DISTRIBUTED, SCALABLE ANTENNA ON GLASS FOR AUTOMOTIVE CONNECTIVITY TO SATELLITE (ARTES 4.0 AT 7C.081)
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a distributed, scalable antenna on glass to provide satellite services to cars. Targeted Improvements: Reduction of antenna form factor from a protruding antenna (e.g. shark fin shape) to planar antenna integrated on glass. Description: Today there is a growing interest to offer connectivity services via satellite to cars. Current car design trends lean towards the extensive use…
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…
EFFICIENT DIGITAL BEAMFORMING TECHNIQUE COMPATIBLE WITH NON-UNIFORM BEAM AND ARRAY LATTICES (ARTES 4.0 AT 5C.492)
The objective of this activity is to develop and evaluate efficient digital beamforming algorithms and techniques that are compatible with non-uniform antenna arrays or non-uniform beam lattices. The developed techniques will be implemented and evaluated on a representative processor test bed. Targeted Improvements: 30 to 70% power reduction on the implementation of digital beamforming algorithms with non-uniform input/outputs with respect to…
5G REGENERATIVE PROCESSOR AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEM TESTBED (ARTES SPL 5G/6G 5A.083)
The objective of this activity is to implement and test the signal processing portion of a 5G LEO satellite payload capable of handling several high throughput beams assuming an active antenna configuration. The demonstrator shall be based on a processor capable of controlling a reconfigurable beam-forming network (BFN) and performing signal (re-)generation andchannelisation of 5G waveforms.Targeted Improvements: Enable 5G regenerative payload…
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…
MASS MEMORY UNIT WITH 100 GIGABIT PER SECOND WRITE RATE CLASS FOR LOW EARTH ORBIT COMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS (ARTES AT 5C.498) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of this activity is to design, manufacture and test a memory unit breadboard offering interface port and memory read and write speeds at 100 GigaBit per second and a capacity of at least 3 TeraBits for interconnected constellation telecommunication systems. Targeted Improvements: Improvement of the write speed by a factor of 10 compared to FLASH-based mass memories. Description:Future Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations with hig…
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…
NGSO SIMULATOR FOR 5G VEHICLE-TO-EVERYTHING (V2X) (ARTES 4.0 SPL 5G/6G 3A.183)
Objective: The objective of the activity is to develop and test NGSO networking techniques for 5G V2X services. The developments will be implemented and verified in a simulator modelling realistic system scenarios of 5G LEO satellites. Targeted Improvements: Enabling the provision of 5G V2X services by satellite. Description:Due to their low altitudes, LEO satellite systems may offer low-latency 5G connectivity that, paired with on-board edge…
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…
SOLAR ARRAY WITH LATCHED SHALLOW CURVED SURFACE FOR IMPROVED DEPLOYED STIFFNESS (ARTES AT 4F.161) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of the activity is to develop, manufacture and test a latch to enhance the deployed stiffness of an existing array, by means of a slight repositioning of panels. Targeted Improvements: Increase the frequencies of the deployed array by 30%.Description: Most telecommunication solar arrays comprise in-line panels, arranged in a row. Some include lateral panels, forming a cross configuration. In the case of the latter, the frequency…
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…