ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9531
Open Date: 09/08/2018
Closing Date: 28/09/2018 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 18.138.06
Prog. Ref.: GSTP Element 3 “Fly”
Budget Ref.: E/0904-630 – GSTP Element 3 “Fly”
Special Prov.: IT
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / Other
Techology Domains: Others
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. & Quality
Department: System, Software & Technology Department
Contract Officer: Casini, Gian Lorenzo
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 09/08/2018
Update Reason: Tender issue

The activity will consist in the study, specification, design, production and qualification of small satellite dedicated to the in-orbit deployment of a number of cubesat. The satellite will have traditional bus subsystems, i.e. redundant avionics, electrical andpower, attitude control and thermal control, propulsion subsystems. As part of the satellite infrastructure, the CubeSat modular andconfigurable dispensers will be designed allowing to accommodate at least 16 (TBC) 3U cubesats (i.e. 48 unit-cubesats in various modular configurations). Each cubesat will be able to received power and possibly communicate with the satellite bus allowing cubesatcheckout during the pre-launch phases and before their release into orbit. The satellite will be in charge to release the various hosted cubesat precisely at the required orbital position and with a reduced tumbling rate. The overall benefit of such configurationwill be to provide a single interface towards the launcher authorities and to allow the cubesat to be precisely inserted reducing satellite dispersion time up to 85% with respect to current deployment solutions. The cubesat developers will be relieved from the burden of interfacing directly with the launchers authorities including the safety aspects. The satellite will be compatible with the Class-2 payload dimensions requirements on Vega SSMS adapter but also be compatible with other type of launchers. The satellite willbe designed to be compatible with the space debris mitigations regulation. The operational scenario of the overall mission including the ground segment will be studied and associated requirements will be derived.

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