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.
OPTICAL FEEDER LINK SITE-DIVERSITY PROTOCOLS FOR SATELLITE CONSTELLATION NETWORKS (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 3A.170)
Objective: Design and demonstration of link protection and restoration protocols that can be deployed to provide optical feeder link diversity in mega-constellations with inter-satellite links. Targeted Improvements: >30% increased optical network throughput witha reduced number of ground stations and reduced CAPEX. Description: Optical feeder links for LEO satellite systems suffer from frequent disruptions due to cloud blockages that rende…
REGENERATIVE PROCESSOR BASED ON EUROPEAN FPGA (GSHE-2)
This activity aims at the development of a regenerative processor demonstrator based on the NG-ULTRA European FPGA, making use of its development kit. The activity will be processed in Open Competition, subject to ESA's procurement rules and procedures adapted asper Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA) and Contribution Agreement and the tasks entrusted to ESA for GOVSATCOM.
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…
AERONAUTICAL EXPERIMENT IN Q/V BAND (ARTES 4.0 AT 7C.079)
The objective of the activity is to design and perform an aeronautical experiment in Q/V-band involving a bidirectional link.Targeted Improvements:50% increase of available spectrum for aeronautical services over existing Ku- and Ka-band.Description:One of the main areas of growth for the satcom market is the provision of high data rate Internet services to airplanes, especially in areas where only satellite coverage is feasible, such as cross…
VLEO AIR-BREATHING ELECTRIC PROPULSION IN-ORBIT EXPERIMENT (ARTES 4.0 AT 3E.016)
The objective of the activity is to develop and carry out on ground tests as well as Very Low Earth orbit (VLEO) tests of a small-scale air-breathing electric propulsion system. The on ground test data and the in-orbit experiment in VLEO atmosphere will provide the necessary data in order to significantly improve the models of the plasma physics, thrust efficiency and ingestion. This will enable significant design improvements allowing to reac…
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…
ARTES 4.0 SPL OPTICAL COMMUNICATION - SCYLIGHT: SCINTILLATION MITIGATION TECHNIQUES BASED ON FEMTOSECOND PULSES FOR OPTICAL FEEDER UPLINKS (5G.014/SL.033) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
Objective:The objective of the activity is to develop scintillation mitigation techniques based on femtosecond pulses for optical feeder uplinks. Their performance will be experimentally verified using the fine acquisition sensor on Alphasat's laser communication terminal.Targeted Improvements:25dB link budget improvement under strong turbulence conditions.Description:The adoption of optical feeder links will largely depend on their abili…
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…
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.
DRAG AND ATOMIC OXYGEN RESISTANT CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER FOR VERY LOW EARTH ORBIT TELECOM SATELLITES (ARTES AT 4A.092) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test a coating material (e.g. for substrates such as carbon fibre reinforced polymer, polymers, etc) with improved atomic oxygen and drag resistance to be used on the external satellite surfaces for very low Earth orbit applicationsTargeted Improvements:- Enabling technology not existing today; allowing telecommunication satellites with conventional construction materials in much lower orbits tha…
LOW LOSS FILTERS FOR V-BAND (59 TO 71 GHZ) INTERSATELLITE LINKS (ARTES 4.0 AT 5C.496)
The objective of this activity is to design, manufacture and test high quality factor, low loss filters as needed for V-band intersatellite links.Targeted Improvements:Filter quality factor improved by 30% to 50% compared to conventional filters at V-band ISL frequencies.Description:Intersatellite links (ISL) are key system elements for satellite-based communication networks.Filters arerequired at the front end of the antenna to provide the re…
AIR INTERFACE FOR FEEDER LINKS OF REGENERATIVE MULTI-GIGABIT SATELLITE SYSTEMS (ARTES 4.0 AT 3C.037)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test uplink and downlink air interfaces for the feeder link of regenerative multi-gigabit throughput satellite systems. Geostationary and non-geostationary systems will be considered. Goal is to reduce the number ofrequired gateways by maximising the feeder link s spectral efficiency while minimising the impact on payload resources and implementation complexity. The air interfaces will be impleme…
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…
SATELLITE COMMUNICATION TEST-BED ON-BOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ARTES AT 3A.118) (ON DELEGATION REQUEST)
Objective: The objective of this activity is to develop, deploy and operate a flexible software-defined radio communication testbedwith a frequency flexible RF front end on the International Space Station, supporting a wide range of frequencies up to Q/V band addressing 5G, signal processing and advanced techniques. Targeted Improvements: Enabling innovative and fast developments of future satcom applications from UHF to Q/V band that are diff…
AUTONOMOUS HEALTH MONITORING FOR TELECOMMUNICATION PLATFORM MECHANISMS (ARTES 4.0 AT 4E.089)
The objective of the activity is to develop and test a computer-assisted approach for in-situ operational health monitoring and anomaly detection for mission-critical platform mechanisms (e.g., reaction wheels, solar array drive mechanisms, antenna pointing mechanisms, laser communication terminals, etc.) in telecommunication spacecraft. Rather than relying on telemetry data, this activity will develop an approach using the full signal and sen…
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…
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…
IRIS2 PHASE 1 SYSTEM VALIDATION TEST BED
The European Union has recently issued a call for tender for the Secure Connectivity Programme, aiming at deploying an EU satellite constellation: IRIS' (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite). With its Programme Related to EU Secure Connectivity, the Agency aims to contribute to the development and validation activities of the EU Secure Connectivity governmental infrastructure providing Hard Gov ser…
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…
CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR DOWNSTREAM APPLICATIONS IN ARTES 4.0 (UNDER BASS, 4S OR 5G PROGRAMME LINES)FEASIBILITY STUDIES/DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS
The overall goal of ARTES 4.0 Business Applications can be summarised as the development of pre-operational services - possibly in partnership - for a wide range of users through the combination of different systems. Business Applications activities aim at: i) collecting user feedback for better tuning of the applications and the operation of all elements involved, ii) developing commercial sustainable space based applications by linking user…
PERMANENT OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR NHS FUTURE HOSPITAL INITIATIVE
Following a well-established collaboration among the UK National Health Service (NHS), the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and ESA are promoting innovative solutions exploiting space technologies for the benefit of NHS ecosystem. This Open Call for Proposals is aimed at fostering activities bringing space technology that contribute to shape the NHS Future Hospital project initiative, recently kicked off by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.…