LIGHTWEIGHT, ACOUSTIC-LOAD-INSENSITIVE MILLIMETRE-WAVE ANTENNA REFLECTOR (ARTES AT 5B.189)
30, August 2019

ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9743
Open Date: 30/08/2019
Closing Date: 15/11/2019 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 19.1TT.24
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 / RF / Microwave Communication (Platform and Payloads) / Antennas / Omnidirectional, Helix, Horn, Parabolic, Phased Arrays / Platform vs Payload
Technology Domains: Electromagnetic Technologies and Techniques / Antennas / Reflector and Lens Antennas
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate Telecom & Integrated Applica
Department: Telecom Technologies,Product&Systems Dep
Division: Technologies and Products Division
Contract Officer: Piesche, Claudia Ria
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 30/08/2019
Update Reason: Tender issue

The objective of this activity is to design, develop and test a lightweight millimetre-wave antenna reflector with minimal or no sensitivity to acousticloading. The reflector shall be scalable to diameters of up to 3 metres and be compatible with Ka- to W-band operation.Targeted Improvements:Reduction of mass per reflector area by a factor of 2.Description: Next-generation telecommunication satellites such as Very-High-Throughput-Satellites (VHTS) will need reflector antennas compatible with Ka- to Wbandoperation. The radiating aperture requirements for such antennas will call for reflector diameters of up to 3 metres. Lightweight technologies existthat offer the needed insensitivity to acoustic loads, however the current state-of-the-art is not suitable for high-frequencyoperation beyond Ka-band.In this activity, a lightweight reflector concept shall be developed that allows Ka- to W-band operation and complies with the requirement for lowsensitivity to acoustic loading. A reflector shall be designed based on the selected reflector concept. A reduced-scale Engineering Model of the reflectorshall be manufactured and tested. The test campaign shall include, as a minimum, acoustic and sine vibration, thermo-elastic distortion, RF testing(including passive intermodulation) and surface profile measurement.

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