ESA Open Invitation to Tender: 1-11087
Open Date: 07/12/2021 14:26 CEST
Closing Date: 04/03/2022 13:00 CEST

In complement to the Agency’s Lunar Communications and Navigation Services (LCNS) Phase A/B1 system study, this activity will provide a detailed assessment of the critical technologies associated with the a PNT beacon transmitter/reference station, which may complement future LCNS satellites, providing additional ranging sources (from the Moon’s surface) and supporting their accurate orbit determination as well as having the potential to provide localised relative positioning and to support selenodetic/scientific applications. This Moon PNT beacon element may as such, become an essential subsystem of the future LCNS system, providing significant benefits to future lunar PNT users (e.g. moon landing/ascent and moon surface operations). The objective of this activity is to develop an Elegant BreadBoard (EBB) of a PNT Moon surface Beacon and Reference Station demonstrator as part of the future LCNS System. An EBB in this context is a candidate model of the final LCNS lunar surface station that is in between a simple Breadboard and an Engineering Model in terms of representativeness and Technology Readiness Level (TRL).

Estabilishment: ESTEC
ECOS Required: No
Classified: No
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Authorised Contact Person: Patryk Michal Strzelecki
Initiating Service: NAV-PNI
IP Measure: N/A
Prog. Reference: E/0365-40 – NAVISP Phase 2 E1
Tender Type: Open Competition
Open To Tenderers From: AT+BE+CH+CZ+DK+EL+FI+GB+HU+IT+NL+NO+RO+SE
Technology Keywords: 6-B-I-Navigation System Tools / 12-A-I-Advanced Ground Station Design Concepts
Products Keywords: 2-L-2-a-X-band, S-Band, Ka band,… / Near Earth application, Deep space application,…/ Platform vs Payload / 4-B-2-a-Transmitter and Receiver assemblies, Frequency converters,…