ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO10196
Open Date: 23/03/2020
Closing Date: 11/06/2020 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 20.1TT.16
Prog. Ref.: CC-AT 4.0.1
Budget Ref.: E/0534-01G – CC-AT 4.0.1
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+CA+HU+PL
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / RF / Microwave Communication (Platform and Payloads) / “Communication – BB (Antennas excluded)” / Other
Technology Domains: RF Systems, Payloads and Technologies / RF Technologies and Equipment / RF Equipment
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate Telecom & Integrated Applica
Department: Telecom Technologies,Product&Systems Dep
Division: Technologies and Products Division
Contract Officer: Dorval, Nathalie
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 23/03/2020
Update Reason: Tender issue

Objective: The objective of the activity is to develop and test compact switch technology at Ku- and Ka-band, compatible with on-chip integration. Two 4-by-4 switch matrix demonstrators will be designed, manufactured and tested. Targeted Improvements: Achieve a high degree of miniaturisation, aiming at 50% size reduction compared to the state-of-the-art for broadband and low loss switching networks. Description: RF switches are widely used in satellite payloads for performing routing functions. Current solutions are basedon waveguide/coaxial mechanical or ferrite switches, which are bulky and often dictate the footprint for RF equipment, making theintegration very difficult. Additionally, switching matrices with a high number of inputs and outputs become very complex when employing waveguide/coaxial switches. Several attempts have been made in the past to realise miniaturised switching concepts, without achieving the desired results. Recently, low loss broadband switches based on phase change materials have been investigated and the reported results show encouraging performance, in addition to a miniaturised footprint, making it a possible solution to achieve compact Ku- and Ka-band RF switch networks. This activity aims to design, manufacture and test a miniaturised and reliable switch matrix at Ku- and Ka-band, enabling the implementation of redundancy switching networks with a much-reduced footprint.