ATHENA INSTRUMENT SELECTION MECHANISM
15, June 2015

ESA Open Invitation To Tender AO8277
Open Date: 12/06/2015
Closing Date: 07/08/2015

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 15.164.08
Prog. Ref.: CTP – General;NMS – Poland
Budget Ref.: E/0401-01B – CTP – General;E/0907-06 – NMS – Poland
Special Prov.: PL
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Science & Robotic Explor.
Department: Future Missions Preparation Office
Contract Officer: Weihert, Beatrice
Last Update Date: 12/06/2015
Update Reason: Tender issue

The ATHENA spacecraft baseline carries two independent instruments; a spectrometer (X-IFU) and an imager (WFI) which will share a single focal point provided by a single x-ray telescope. The mission therefore requires a means of placing one of the instruments at a time at the telescope focus via an Instrument Selection Mechanism (ISM). Two possibilities are foreseen in order to meet this requirement (a) the Movable Mirror Assembly (MMA) approach where the telescope mirror assembly shall be rotated/translated whilst the focal plane instruments remain fixed with respect to the spacecraft structure and (b) the Movable Instrument Platform (MIP) approach where the instruments are translated and the telescope mirror assembly remains fixed with respect to the spacecraft structure. This activity is foreseen to be conducted in two phases. Phase 1 shall address the preliminary design of an ISM meeting the requirements of both the MMA and MIP approaches. Phase 2 shall address the detailed design and breadboarding of one of the two approaches which will be selected by the Agency Procurement Policy: C(2) = A relevant participation (in terms of quality and quantity) of non-primes (incl. SMEs) is required. For additional information please go to EMITS news “Industrial Policy measures for non-primes, SMEs and R&Dentities in ESA programmes”.

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