ESA Open Invitation to Tender: 1-10707
Open Date: 03/03/2022 12:38 CEST
Closing Date: 19/05/2022 13:00 CEST

The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a Ka- to W-band up-converter for future very high throughput telecom payloads. Targeted Improvements: enabling technology for future satellite telecommunication systems based on the use of W-band for the gateway links. Description: The trend in very high throughput satellite systems is to employ high frequency bands (e.g. Q/V-band) for the gateway communication links in order to enhance the overall system capacity and, at the same time, minimise the required number of gateway earth stations by making use of the wide bandwidth available in such frequency bands. After several years of assessments, RD and technology development activities, Q/V-band gateway links are becoming a key feature of today’s very high throughput systems. Since there remains a strong push towards further increasing system capacity, whilst at the same time minimising the number of gateway earth stations, it is crucial to launch technology development activities addressing W-band. Among others, key elements in W-band communication payloads are frequency converters. High linearity, low distortion, low mass and low power consumption are key requirements for these units. The W- to Ka-band down-converter is under development. The Ka- to W-band up-converter is the natural complement to this equipment. This activity aims to develop a Ka- to W-band frequency up-converter using European or Canadian state of the art microwave monolithic integrated circuit technology. A scaled engineering model of a Ka- to W-band frequency up-converter comprising amplifiers, mixers, filters and frequency multipliers shall be built and tested.

Directorate: Directorate Telecom Integrated Applica
Estabilishment: ESTEC
ECOS Required: No
Classified: No
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Authorised Contact Person: Claudia Ria Piesche
Initiating Service: TIA-TT
IP Measure: N/A
Prog. Reference: E/0534-01G – CC-AT 4.0.1
Tender Type: Open Competition
Open To Tenderers From: AT+BE+CA+CH+CZ+DE+DK+EL+ES+FI+FR+GB+HU+IE+IT+LU+NL+NO+PL+PT+RO+SE
Technology Keywords: 6-E-II-RF Equipment
Products Keywords: 2-L-2/3/4.1-n-Other