CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS AND NAVIGATION AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS IN MARITIME VHF BANDS
22, July 2016

ESA Open Invitation To Tender AO8737
Open Date: 19/07/2016
Closing Date: 20/09/2016 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 16.136.04
Prog. Ref.: General Studies
Budget Ref.: E/0600-00 – General Studies
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+HU+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+PL+CA+EE
Tender Type: C
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / RF / Microwave Communication (Platform and Payloads) / RF Comm. Eng. SW / SW for RF Comm. design, analysis, simulation, etc.
Technology Domains: Others
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Technical & Quality Management
Department: System, Software & Technology Department
Division: Future Prep. &Strategic Studies Office
Contract Officer: Erkelens-Sickinger, Franziska
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 19/07/2016
Update Reason: Tender issue

The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) held in 2015 approved a plan for modernization of mobile VHF communications allowing for digital data exchange between ships and shores and among the ships in several VHF channels as well as data collection via satellite in two VHF channels. The WRC also adopted a new agenda Item for the next conference in 2019 to carry out further studies and experiments for data downlink from satellite to ships. This GSP study will evaluate technical challenges and opportunities for Navigation Augmentation using VHF downlink channel particularly in the proposed frequency channels identified in WRC 2015 targeting maritime applications in remote areas such as Arctic region. The study will investigate technical solutions to for maritime communication via satellite and augmentation system for navigation. Compared to the current maritime VHF system such as AIS, the proposed solutions will take advantage of wider spectrum, thus capable of operating at lower power spectral density. The goal is also to assess the use the existing VHF communication infrastructure available on-board of vessels for the new services.

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