ESA Open Invitation To Tender AO8245
Open Date: 28/04/2015
Closing Date: 22/06/2015

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 14.164.08
Prog. Ref.: AURORA MREP-2 S.E.1
Budget Ref.: E/0431-01 – AURORA MREP-2 S.E.1
Special Prov.: A+CZ+I+N+PL+POR+RO+S+CH+GB+E
Tender Type: C
Price Range: KEURO
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Science & Robotic Explor.
Department: Future Missions Preparation Office
Contract Officer: Weihert, Beatrice
Last Update Date: 28/04/2015
Update Reason: Tender issue

In the context of the Phootprint mission, the landing phase of its lander of 1000 to 1500kg (with CoG at 1m above the base of the S/C) will end with a free fall without using the braking thrusters, from 15m (TBC) above the surface and with a landing velocities range of <0.6 m/s vertical and < 0.15m/s horizontal. Therefore the landing gear design, including the foot-pad and possibly anchoring system (TBC) and breadboard, needs to be fully representative of the flight system with respect to its dynamic behaviour in the landing configuration for the final touchdown and surface operations. This activity shall also aim at the minimization of the mass of the landing gear system considering the use of CFRP components for the main structural elements (i.e. main and secondary struts) or other lightweight technological solutions. The need of damping of the shock transferred to the spacecraft at touchdown has to be considered in frame of the activity and simple solutions (possibly passive systems such as crushable materials, foams) shall be implemented and validated by test. Moreover, the possibility of implementing load limiting capabilities (i.e. collapsible load limiters) at the interfaces of the landing gear with the spacecraft need to be considered. In the frame of this activity, the functionality of thelanding gear system shall also include provisions for deployment, latching and touchdown sensors. The activity will consist on two(2) contractual phases: Phase 1 (400 kEuros, 9 months) with the following main tasks to be implemented – Review of the state of theart of configurations, design solutions and materials; – Analysis of mission/system requirements and definition of the requirementsfor the landing gear subsystem; – Perform characterisation tests on possible crushable materials and landing pads (the latter for friction coefficient characterisation) – Establish the design concept of the complete landing gear system including all active (e.g.actuators) and passive (e.g. damping systems) solutions and including provisions for sampling handling and operations in micro-gravity conditions; – Establish a dynamic model for landing simulations, using previous characterisation tests results for correlation, and identify by analysis the worst cases among the landing scenarios; – Define the requirements for the manufacturing and validationofa landing gear demonstrator; – Define the demonstrator verification approach considering all the environmental conditions and the relevant operational approaches. Phase 2 (1100 kEuros, 15 months) with the following main tasks to be implemented – Design the landing gear demonstrator on the basis of the requirements and verification approach established during phase 1; – Breadboard manufacturing and verification plan. Establish the test procedures; – Design, manufacturing and assembly of the landing test setup; – Manufacturing of the breadboard components and assembly; – Execution of the landing tests on the demonstrator Procurement 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 R&D entities in ESA programmes”.

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