ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9555
Open Date: 04/10/2018
Closing Date: 15/11/2018 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 18.1MS.10
Prog. Ref.: ExPeRT MarsX
Budget Ref.: E/0116-11M – ExPeRT MarsX
Special Prov.: AT+BE+CH+CZ+DE+DK+ES+FR+GB+GR+IE+IT+NL+NO+PL+PT+RO+SE+CA
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / AOCS & GNC / Sensors / Optical Navigation Units (including 3D cameras) / Satellites & Probes / Payloads / Instruments / Optical Instruments / Passive sounders / Orbital Transportation & Re-entry Systems / GNC / Sensors / Rendezvous, Gyros, Sun Sensors, ¿
Techology Domains: Space System Control / Control Systems Innovative Technologies / GNC Technologies for Cruise, Rendezvous and Docking or Capture / Space System Control / AOCS/GNC Sensors and Actuators / AOCS/GNC Optical Sensors / Optics / Optical System Engineering / Overall Optical System Definition, Design and Engineering / Optics / Optical System Engineering / Optical Design Performance Evaluation and Analysis
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Dir of Human & Robotic Exploration Prog.
Department: Exploration Group
Contract Officer: Ekatomati, Georgia
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 04/10/2018
Update Reason: Tender issue

The MSR- Earth Return Orbiter mission is required to perform Mars orbit search and rendezvous with the Orbiting Sample (OS). The search phase in particular is very challenging and requires the use of a long-range camera (also known as Narrow Angle Camera (NAC)). ESA has experience with relatively few NACs for interplanetary navigation (i.e. ROSETTA, JUICE). The mass and power consumption of these cameras are several times larger than recent developments like the PRISMA navigation camera or the TRP study Navigation On a Chip. Given the mass-criticality of the MSR-ERO mission and the possibility that more than one NAC may be required for redundancy, alightweight solution to the NAC would bring significant system benefits.The present activity aims to develop and test an engineering model of a NAC for the MSR-Earth Return Orbiter with a target mass of less than 5 kg, power consumption of less than 3.5 W, and maintaining the performances for MSR-ERO (in particular angular resolution and detection of OS during start of rendezvous). The EM shall reach TRL 6 at the end of the activity.The camera shall cover the visual spectral band only. The EM shall include the optical head, the electronics and the low-level Image Processing algorithms (e.g. radiometric calibration, bad pixels correction/detection). The Electrical Ground Support equipment shall also be provided, including any optical or electrical stimulation devices. The VV plan of the EM shall be agreed with ESA considering also the GNC testing facilities available at ESTEC.The activity will be broken down in tasks as follows:o Task 1: Specifications and Design Consolidation. This task shall analyse the results of the latest activities on rendezvous for MSR-ERO, the mission and environment requirements and the European heritage (e.g. JUICE Navcam). All the components of the EM shall be identified. The low-level image processing (IP) algorithms shall be designed considering the NAC requirements. A validation plan shall be prepared with the aim to verify the EM manufacturing and validate its optical performances.o Task 2: Procurement and Integration. The contractor will perform the procurement of the components of the camera including the required IP cores and SW licenses. Mathematical models (high-fidelity and medium-fidelity) of the camera performances shall be derived. The EGSE shall be developed for the validation campaign. The selection and procurement of the support facilities and models to perform the validation tests shall be performed. Integration tests shall be executed to demonstrate the readiness for EM validation.o Task 3: EM Testing and VV. The system tests shall be executed and analysed. The tests shall prove the functionalities and performances from the specifications, in the relevant environment (e.g. thermal, radiation) and representative model in form, fit and function. To that end, an environmental test campaign shall be performed. The results shall be used to correlate the mathematical models. The camera specifications and the associated EM design shall be updated. The development plan to achieve the qualification of the NAC according to MSR-ERO schedule shall be prepared.

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