ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9755
Open Date: 17/02/2020
Closing Date: 04/05/2020 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 19.1TT.32
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+PL+HU
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / RF / Microwave Communication (Platform and Payloads) / Antennas – BB / Antenna Towers and/or Reflectors
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: Dorval, Nathalie
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 17/02/2020
Update Reason: Tender issue

The objective of this activity is to develop a Large Deployable Reflector Assembly (3m an above) concept with fine pointing capability (at least 0.02 degrees), re-focusing and in-orbit alignment for Ka-band applications. The fine pointing and alignment concept shall be further developed and critical elements breadboarded and tested. Targeted Improvements:Enabling technology development of an in-orbit fine pointing and alignment capability for European large deployable reflectors. Description: Geostationary very-high-throughput-satellite missions require large radiating apertures in order to produce multiple narrow beams over a wide coverage region.One viable antenna solution is a large unfurlable reflector operating in Ka band with a diameter of up to 9 metres. The high frequency of operation of this large antenna puts strong constraints on the design and the manufacturing of the large deployable reflector assembly (including the deployment boom and hold-down and release mechanism), since it requires an RF-reflective surface with an excellent accuracy(RMS error of less than 0.2 mm) and stability. The challenging requirements for such in-orbit reflective surface accuracy call for a possible correction of the reflector pointing and alignment in orbit. Currently, an in-orbit fine pointing and re-alignment concept does not exist for European large deployable reflector technology. In this activity, a representative partial breadboard of a large deployable reflector assembly suitable for Ka-band applications will be developed, manufactured and tested. The breadboard test campaign shall demonstrate the viability of the fine pointing and re-alignment concept and lead to a quantification ofthe achievable performance at antenna level.