QUIC is a new encrypted-by-default Internet transport protocol that accelerates HTTP traffic and which has the intention to eventually replace TCP. The project objectives are to identify the root causes of any shortfalls in QUIC performance over satellite, influence and propose changes to the specification, and evaluate them using a real-time emulation test bed. The results of this work are contributed to the IETF.

Recent developments by telecommunication satellite manufacturers have stimulated interest in carrying small payloads to GEO. Additionally, growth of very small telecommunication satellites in LEO has helped to improve the performance/resilience of very small satellites. This study has explored the feasibility of implementing GEO microsatellites for Telecommunications applications, including the potential business cases. A baseline Ku-Band IoT services mission was then developed.

The OpenSatCom project analyses the relevance of open-source methodology models for the satellite communications sector, where such models can provide benefits and how can the European Space Agency contribute to assist relevant existing or new open-source projects. Taking into account the recommendations derived several open-source sub-activities are implemented.

Based on the heritage of ELSA antenna developed under the frame of ESA AG1 program, an enhanced system “ELSA+” has been developed, evolving from single to dual polarization, increased band from 250 MHz to 2050 MHz, together with inclusion of emitter Geolocation and Beam Hopping. The activity includes the design and qualification of the subassemblies and the RF and Thermomechanical analysis.

MPB has developed a 10W Polarization Maintaining Optical Fiber amplifier (1550 nm) for space applications. The prototype is based on three stages of optical amplification with photodiodes at each stage, monitoring the output power. It includes the control electronics and software with feedback loops to dynamically control and monitor the amplifier.

MPB communications Inc. has developed a high power (6W) polarization maintaining Ytterbium (1064 nm) optical amplifier to be used as booster for satellite communications. An engineering model was built and tested in a relevant environment. The redundant design is based on three stages of optical amplification with photodiodes at each stage.

There is a growing interest in flexibility, suggesting that the telecom satellite with digital payload processors, will be an increasing market in the coming years. The digital payload processors need several technologies that are not readily available. The digital parts envisaged are power consuming with high currents at low voltages. This project focuses on the design of these power converters including adequate cooling of the parts.

Development of a range of new high performance products for High Throughput Satellites (HTS) operating in K, Ka, Q and V bands and validation in a repeater subsystem demonstrator

The development of a new Software Defined Radio (SDR) platform designed for the implementation of high-end satellite communication applications. This is a new modular platform, with a carrier board mounted in a 19” rack mechanical enclosure and the capability of plugging powerful FPGA SoC modules, radio front-end modules, and high-speed DACs and ADCs into FMC+ connectors.

The mission of the SECOPS definition study is to identify the set of security requirements and controls enabling protected delivery of configurable satellite communications services to meet government requirements for the new class of GOVSATCOM satellites and secure commercial communications, with a particular focus on the ‘Pooling and Sharing’ use case.

The Aspire 400 satellite communication system provides safety voice and data services for the aircraft cockpit and in-flight, non-safety services for the aircraft cabin for business aviation, airlines and helicopters - anywhere in the world. Leveraging Inmarsat's satellite system, Aspire 400 brings greater connectivity, reliability, cost savings and efficiency, globally.

The objective of the STEDI project is the development, manufacturing, test and comparison of different technology concepts for user terminal Ku-/Ka-band dplxs using novel technologies, aiming at large-scale fabrication of RF compact filters compatible with planar and monolithic circuits.

The CYBERSAT project aims at investigating the effects of the current and upcoming cyber security regulations issued at European level on future satellite communication (SATCOM) systems and services.
The twofold objective is, on the one hand, to identify and analyse the cyber security regulations and to assess their impact on the design, development and operations of SATCOM systems; on the other hand, to identify new SATCOM service opportunities fostered by these regulations.

Quantum encryption based on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is an alternative to classical cryptography. It aims to solve the problem of key exchange by the use of physics and thus offers the potential of ensuring “unconditional secure” key exchange. Every attempt to eavesdrop on the key-exchange causes errors in the QKD protocol alerting the communicating parties of the attack.

The RF product policy from Thales Alenia Space is built according to the expansion of the GaN power amplifier based on a vertical housing approach. In this frame, Thales Alenia Space proposed a study to develop and to qualify a C-band LC-SSPA using European GaN technology.

A waveguide-based transmit (Tx) direct radiating array (DRA) operating in the Ku-band that is suitable for low earth orbit (LEO) applications is designed, manufactured, and RF tested. The designed passive aperture is fabricated monolithically by using selective layer melting (SLM) additive manufacturing (AM) technology and shows very good agreement with simulations.

SIMO (Sige broadband Iq MOdulator) is a MMIC allowing direct conversion from baseband to an ultra-wide RF frequency (L band to Ka Band) enabling a new generation of compact, lightweight, and power efficient portable terminals.

Development of an innovative and light weight battery packaging made
of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) integrating an individual cell replacement feature.

Development of a miniaturized space radiation monitor based on the hybrid active pixel detector technology

RADIOSAT: a miniaturized K/Ka band transceiver for small satellites.

The main approach of this study was to develop ancillary power supplies for a Power Processing Unit (PPU) for electric propulsion systems which provide a high grade of flexibility and modularity to serve a wide spectrum of thruster assemblies.

This project focuses on the development of a hermetically packaged, fiber coupled photodiode for Ka-band with a bandwidth larger than 20 GHz capable of handling incident optical input powers of 120mW. Such photoreceiver modules are key building blocks of photonic RF links with very high dynamic range that will be extensively employed in microwave photonic payload designs.

Four different frequency converter hybrids have been developed in the program. These converter hybrids can be used in payload equipment or in inter-satellite link applications.

«Satellite trunking» is referring to very different services and usages. Here, we define trunking as the provision of high data rate point-to-point links for professional use.
Up to now satellite trunking services (including mobile/cellular backhaul) are only provided by GEO satellites over regional coverage, with the notable exception of the equatorial O3B MEO constellation.
Mega-constellations are developed to provide Internet access services to private customers.
The future would be to rather use LEO/MEO constellations for the provision of high speed trunking services to professional customers.
The question is : will be LEO/MEO constellations the right solution for the next generation of high speed trunking services

The Deployable and Pointing System (DPS) is a major feature of the OneSat innovative, fully reconfigurable, software defined, and standardized satellite for commercial telecommunication missions in geostationary orbit. As per the previous Eurostar series, it allows to maximize the efficiency of the propulsion system with very significant mass saving with respect to classical chemical propulsion systems.

The objective of this project is to design and demonstrate solutions for compact and energy efficient Machine-to-Machine (M2M) user terminals for direct, massive uncoordinated access via satellite.
A novel access scheme is developed for optimizing energy management at physical and access layer, looking at a global access network and targeting low duty cycle and volume traffic.

In satellite communication new frequency bands are being used to handle more and faster communication. For RUAG Space AB to remain a leading independent supplier of converters and receivers, being able to deliver space qualified converters operating above Ka-band is essential. The Ka/Q-Band Up Converter Programme objective is to complement and to further strengthen RUAG Space converter and receiver products by performing this activity in the Q/V Converter product area.

The Micro Remote Terminal Unit (μRTU) provides interfaces for telemetry acquisition, telecommand execution and power to peripheral units on board a satellite. These interfaces are implemented in a modular way that allows the prime of the satellite to change the number and configuration of interfaces according to mission specific needs without the need to change hardware.

The output of this system study is to determine the feasibility and limits of employing a large population of highly distributed small sized gateways to support future VHTS systems.

Development of a high power receive/transmit Diplexer prototype for next generation Q/V-band ground stations with maximized spectrum utilization.

The project renews modem portfolio and enhances SatLink VSAT Network capabilities related to mobility, security, and bandwidth efficiency including upgrade of forward link to S2X with increased throughput.

The Carnot-Sat project aims to develop and validate a toolset which can be used in the planning and deployment of heterogeneous terrestrial/satellite networks, including optimisation, interoperability and network orchestration. It allows the quantitative design and evaluation of such networks and open up the market for satellites in 5G by focussing on the benefits to the terrestrial network operators.

The overall goal is for GateHouse to provide a fully commercial quality 3GPP 5G compliant NB-IoT NTN SW solution including the payload - and UE parts (available for chipset manufactures and for dedicated HW).

Smaller and smarter – this is the trend for mini- and nanosatellites. Upcoming missions - such as IOT, SATCOM, spectrum monitoring, AIS, ADS-B and EO - show an increasing demand of power-efficient on-board processing capabilities. This activity leverages on latest-generation COTS processing technology integrated in a robust, cost-efficient and flexible space product to boost your system performance.

Availability of broadband internet access has become a significant challenge in the development of the society and industry. Cloud services, big-data applications and global logistic businesses require secure, reliable, and fast internet coverage around the globe. Satellite communications can offer global coverage. Optical technologies are expected to play a major role for enabling the next generation of communication satellites.

For the ICEYE precursor mission, FOTEC is developing an electric propulsion system. It is based on FEEP (field emission electric propulsion) ion thruster technology. A cluster of seven identical IFM nano thruster modules is manufactured - each capable of delivering up to 350 µN thrust. This redundant design ensures high reliability and versatility of the propulsion system. The thrusters are commissioned and tested in-orbit, supported under this ARTES Competitiveness & Growth – Demonstration Phase – Atlas project.

Design, develop and test in an operational environment a shipborne VDES transceiver prototype that integrates the Automatic Identification System (AIS), VHF Data Exchange (VDE) and Application Specific Messaging (ASM) functionalities into one single unit.

One of the major obstacles that the NewSpace market is faced with, is the incompatible costs associated with the operations of the spacecraft and the management of the data through the ground network offerings. Moreover, the limited frequency spectrum, has a damping effect to the growth of this market, as it severely limits the number of spacecraft that is possible to share this spectrum and get the necessary ITU frequency allocation within timescales compatible with the aggressive schedules of this market. Project GNNetE aims to address those problems directly.

The project aims at reaching validation of CASTeC, a tool for advanced telemetry checking for satellites constellations, in an operational scenario (TRL 8). CASTeC provides early identification of anomalies in the behaviour of satellites relative to a contextualised standard, enabling fault isolation and mitigation strategies definition. It may also support the identification of critical operative conditions affecting service performance.

This project is a pathfinder mission in order for Oxford Space Systems to develop and fly the technological building blocks required for future unfurlable antennas. It is supported under ARTES Competitiveness & Growth – Demonstration Phase (Atlas).
The objective of the project is to design, manufacture and test in orbit a 3.5m diameter C-band high gain reflector antenna flight unit for an Earth observation Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission.