ESA Open Invitation to Tender: 1-10762
Open Date: 09/07/2021 08:13 CEST
Closing Date: 17/09/2021 13:00 CEST

LEDs have been used for years within space missions and are even offered as space qualified components.Those parts are packaged in very specific cases, providing a full hermeticity at few typical wavelengths and offering limited optical power. Such LEDs are used to convey a signal from electric to optical or for opticalwavelength reference.To illuminate a scene at a 50 cm distance, none of the qualified components have sufficient power or spectral coverage..Nowadays, LEDs are baselined for use in a number of exploration missions for broadband illumination, where incandescent bulbs would have been used in the past, but LEDs are attractive also due to reduced size, weight and power consumption.Reconstructing a broadband illumination leads to select various wavelengths within the visible to near infrared spectra. The packaging of the selected designs is rather simple: the chip is attached to a ceramic substrate and encapsulated with a dome-shaped glob top made of an organic material. Such packaging provides both a first protection to the environment and a lens to narrow down the emitting angle.This material can be vulnerable both in space environment (radiation, vacuum, thermo-mechanical stresses).The impact of the on-ground period is also unknown, for instance many years storage in a humid environment of the clean room. This activity will enable space qualification and use of such components.This activity encompasses the following tasks – selection and procurement of COTS LEDs packaged in open cavity, covering visible and near infrared wavelengths- stress testing including humidity, radiation, vacuum, low temperature, regolith dust resistance as a minimum- identification of the failure mode(s) after stress, and definition of the scope for application in space missionsThe remaining untested components would be delivered to ESA for use in space application if the design isfound suitable.Procurement Policy: C(1) = Activity restricted to non-prime contractors (incl. SMEs). For additional information please go to EMITS news „Industrial Policy measures for non-primes, SMEs and RD entities in ESA programmes”.

Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. Quality
Estabilishment: ESTEC
ECOS Required: No
Classified: No
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Authorised Contact Person: Franziska Isabella Erkelens-Sickinger
Initiating Service: TEC-EDC
IP Measure: C1
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: 23-A-I-Evaluation and Testing / 23-B-IV-Optoelectronic Active and Passive Components
Products Keywords: 2-B-1-d-Discrete semiconductors (including diodes, transistors) / 2-B-1-p-Optoelectronic Devices (including opto-couplers, LED, CCDs, displays, sensors)