ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9900
Open Date: 09/07/2019
Closing Date: 09/09/2019 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 19.1ET.16
Prog. Ref.: Technology Developme
Budget Ref.: E/0901-01 – Technology Developme
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+PL+EE+HU
Tender Type: C
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / Electronics / EEE Components / Monolithic Microcircuits (including MMICs)
Technology Domains: RF Systems, Payloads and Technologies / RF Technologies and Equipment / RF Devices
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. & Quality
Department: Electrical Department
Division: RF Payloads & Technology Division
Contract Officer: Karl, Heinz-Uwe
Industrial Policy Measure: C2 – Activities in open competition, significant partecipat…
Last Update Date: 09/07/2019
Update Reason: Tender issue

Local oscillators (LO) used in microwave and millimetre-wave radiometer receivers for Earth Observation (EO) are normally based on Dielectric Resonator Oscillators (DRO) that are limited to a typical frequency of about 30 GHz. The LO frequency in the millimetre-wave range (165.4 to 229 GHz) is then obtained by means of additional multiplier circuits and band-pass filters, thus increasing the complexity of the circuit, mass and power consumption, and reducing reliability. Additionally, multiplication increases phase noise on the output, which affects coherent systems such as synthetic aperture interferometric radiometers. For the reference signal to begenerated at a higher frequency a high Q-factor resonator is needed, operating at several GHz. Preliminary assessment of oscillatorsusing ultra-high Q-factor silicon resonators, demonstrate power consumption reduction of about 40%, and volume mass reduction of around 50%. This would allow better integration of the receivers behind the antenna radiating elements.This activity encompasses thefollowing tasks:- Review promising high frequency resonator technologies- design, manufacture and tested resonators- Produce highperformance oscillator based on such resonators, without frequency stabilization by an external low-frequency crystal reference, operating directly at millimetre-wave GHz range.-Assess feasibility of the achieved performance for high frequency LO signal generationProcurement Policy: C(2) = A relevant participation (in terms of quality and quantity) of non-primes (incl. SMEs) is required. For additional information please go to EMITS news “Industrial Policy measures for non-primes, SMEs and RD entities in ESA programmes”.