ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9911
Open Date: 01/07/2019
Closing Date: 13/09/2019 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 19.1ET.19
Prog. Ref.: NMS – Poland
Budget Ref.: E/0907-06 – NMS – Poland
Special Prov.: PL
Tender Type: C
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Products: Non Space Procurement/Services
Technology Domains: Others
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. & Quality
Department: Electrical Department
Division: RF Payloads & Technology Division
Contract Officer: Binedell, Carla
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 01/07/2019
Update Reason: Tender issue

Historically for TTC functionalities most of the CubeSat missions relied on amateur bands (e.g. VHF/UHF). For LEO missions, the transition to ITU S-Band (2025/2110, 2200/2290) is underway (with some ESA/TEC support, e.g. IOD) RD [3]. Nevertheless, Europe is currently missing the capability to support Cube-Sat missions at larger distances (e.g. Deep Space), where the use of X-Band as well asmore sensitive receivers and more powerful power amplifiers are required. This activity targets the technology maturation and qualification of the X-band diplexer product and make it ready for commercialisation. The diplexer targets X-Band communications for Space Research (SR) service, the concept could be also tailored for use in X-Band SR (DS) and Earth ExplorationSatellite (EES) services, with potential application in ESA EO and Science missions.The activity goal is detailed design and development of the X-Band diplexers followed by qualification tests which justifies that the unit is able to sustain and operate inside the harsh space environment.This activity shall design and test the X-band diplexer compatible for seamless integration with commercially available Cube-Sat platforms. The targeted improvement is an enabling and qualifying technology to allow antenna sharing of two frequency bands forsimultaneous transmission (TX) and reception operation (RX). Up to the ESA knowledge, there are no available technology solutions of the X-band diplexer that fits size of the Cube-Sat payload. An Engineering Qualification Model (EQM) of X-band diplexer suitable for Cube-Sat-based platforms to be deployed beyond LEO orbits and able to sustain deep space conditions is required. Even though the relevant applicable standards for the connection interface are not novel, a dedicated and completely new integrated development followed with qualification test is required for this activity. The architecture must be carefully designed at sub-system level, in order to achieve the extreme miniaturization, while providing at the same time performance in line with the mission(s) requirements. In particular, the unit design should target low size and mass, and withstand RF output power up to 15 W (at diplexer TX input port). CurrentTRL is estimated to 4, the activity target is to achieve TRL7.