ESA Open Invitation to Tender: 1-10807
Open Date: 20/09/2021 18:15 CEST
Closing Date: 15/11/2021 13:00 CEST

The latest World Radio Conference (WRC) concluded at the end of November 2019 with outcomes considered broadly favourable to the satcom community. The agenda items for the subsequent conference (to be held in 2023) were also agreed at last year’s conference. The WRC is effectively a multi-year process culminating in the month-long collocated sessions, and work on the agenda items for WRC-23 has therefore already started and will continue through the ITU’s Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) process. The CPM prepares a consolidated report on the preparatory studies and possible solutions to the WRC agenda items, to be used in supporting decisions at the subsequent conference, with most of the key technical recommendations and conclusions being reached well in advance of the conference itself. The running Future Preparation Work Plan activity “Supporting Spectrum Strategies for Satellite Communications” will conclude by mid-2020 with a first assessment of the agenda items adopted for the next conference. Potential areas of opportunity include allowing the use of spectrum in the FSS (Ku and Ka-bands) for inter-satellite links, backhaul/trunking service provision to HAPS following new regulations allowing their operation below 2.7 GHz, as well as possible modernisation of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and implementation of e-navigation. The major area of potential threat is the request from the IMT community to use large parts of the C-Band and lower parts of the Ku-band for future terrestrial mobile communications. Given society’s ever-growing communications requirements, pressure on existing spectrum allocations as well as the competition for new allocations means it is critical for the long-term sustainability of the satcom sector that its interests are properly represented throughout the CPM process. A new work plan activity is therefore proposed to investigate the agenda items of most importance to the satcom sector, consolidate common positions amongst the satcom community, and generate and disseminate analysis and supporting information to help National Agencies achieve favourable outcomes for the satcom sector at the next WRC. The new activity would apply lessons learned from the previous process, and seek to follow the model of sector cooperation successfully pioneered through the 3GPP standardisation process for 5G.

Estabilishment: ESTEC
ECOS Required: No
Classified: No
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Authorised Contact Person: Nicole Rinaudo
Initiating Service: TIA-TFE
IP Measure: N/A
Prog. Reference: E/0501-01D – Future Prep 4.0.1
Tender Type: Open Competition
Open To Tenderers From: AT+BE+CA+CH+CZ+DE+DK+EE+EL+ES+FI+FR+GB+HU+IE+IT+LU+NL+NO+PL+PT+RO+SE
Technology Keywords: 6-A-I-Telecom System Engineering Tools / 6-A-II-Telecom Signal Processing
Products Keywords: 2-L-1-a-Omnidirectional, Helix, Horn, Parabolic, Phased Arrays / Platform vs Payload / 2-L-3-a-X-band, S-Band, Ka band,… / Near Earth application, Deep space application, … / Platform vs Payload / 2-M-4-b-Mission analysis tools (Orbital modelling and simulation)
2-M-4-e-Other