ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9278
Open Date: 26/04/2018
Closing Date: 12/07/2018 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 18.1TT.34
Prog. Ref.: CC for Advanced Tech
Budget Ref.: E/0505-01C – CC for Advanced Tech
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+CA
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / Power / Power Monitoring and Control – BB / Other
Techology Domains: Spacecraft Electrical Power / Power System Architecture
Establishment: ECSAT
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: 26/04/2018
Update Reason: Tender issue

Objective:The objective is to define and develop an electrical thruster simulator providing a new category of test equipment required to standardize acceptance and Power Processing Unit (PPU)-thruster coupling tests.Targeted Improvements:Enabling verificationsthat would not be possible with the flight hardware.Mitigation of damage risks on flight hardware.Reduce testing time by 30%.Standardisation of procedures and reports.Increases availability of test equipment.Description:Realistic electrical simulators of electric propulsion thrusters are not currently available. Standardised test equipment for use during unit development and integrationtesting does not exist either.For reliable verification of Power Processing Units (PPU) a realistic test environment is very important. Typically the electrical characteristics of such thrusters are often described as “mostly resistive”. However, significant deviations from this theoretical simplification can be observed in real applications, especially during transients as e.g. beam events or ignition. Realistic loads are an essential part for proper testing/verification of electric propulsion power supplies (PPUs). Implementation of floating ground system helps to simulate the ground concept often used for electric propulsion subsystems. The goal of the proposed activity is a development, which can ultimately be generic enough to work with all major thruster types relevant nowadays for telecom satellites.This activity, a load simulator breadboard simulating the behaviour of electric propulsion thrusters shall be defined, developed and manufactured. The thruster simulator specification will be defined, considering thrusters impedance characteristics (at different operating points and including transients as applicable). Coupling tests with an existing PPU shall be performed to verify and validate the concept.

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