ESA Open Invitation to Tender: 1-11223
Open Date: 15/02/2022 09:41 CEST
Closing Date: 29/03/2022 13:00 CEST

Satellite navigation antennas based on planar elements, so far developed in Europe, have shown strong limitations in the size of the operative frequency bands . Alternatives based arrays with metal elements suffer of significant increase in mass or stowed volume.For small navigation satellites (300-400 kg), in order to improve the End of Coverage Gain and phase stability performances, over the whole frequency band in L-band, different solutions, for instance, based 3D-printing or unfurlable radiating elements need to be considered for mass and/or volume optimisation (e.g. target of 20% reduction in mass and/or more than 50% reduction in volume). Aspects related to high power (e.g. Passive Intermodulation Products, Multipaction), phase centre stability and Group Delay stability over the whole frequency needs to be carefully considered for any selected solution. Also a complete thermo-mechanical and Radio Frequency design shall be provided at the end of the study. The activity needs also to address accommodation issues related to the use of a non-planar L-band radiator for navigation antennas (e.g. array, reflector). A representative sample shall be manufactured and tested.This activity encompasses the following tasks:- Identification, based on literature survey and technical trade-offs, the most promising technology candidate;- Design and investigation, based on the state-of-the art, of several solutions for the manufacturing of the breadboard;- Manufacturing and testing of the breadboard to validate the conceptProcurement 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 this link.

Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. Quality
Estabilishment: ESTEC
ECOS Required: No
Classified: No
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Authorised Contact Person: Anze Singer
Initiating Service: TEC-EFA
IP Measure: C2
Prog. Reference: E/0901-01 – Technology Developme
Tender Type: Open Competition
Open To Tenderers From: AT+BE+CH+CZ+DE+DK+EE+EL+ES+FI+FR+GB+HU+IE+IT+LU+NL+NO+PL+PT+RO+SE
Technology Keywords: 7-A-III-Array Antennas and Standalone Radiators
Products Keywords: 2-L-1-a-Omnidirectional, Helix, Horn, Parabolic, Phased Arrays / Platform vs Payload