ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO10205
Open Date: 07/04/2020
Closing Date: 18/09/2020 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 20.1TT.25
Prog. Ref.: CC-AT 4.0.1
Budget Ref.: E/0534-01G – CC-AT 4.0.1
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+CA+HU+PL
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Technology Domains: Ground Station Systems and Networks / Ground Station System / Advanced Ground Station Design Concepts
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate Telecom & Integrated Applica
Department: Telecom Technologies,Product&Systems Dep
Division: Technologies and Products Division
Contract Officer: Piesche, Claudia Ria
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 07/04/2020
Update Reason: Tender issue

Objective: The objective of this activity is to develop and test a Q/V-band aeronautical terminal prototype. For validation purpose, a bi-directional link of a DVB-S2 modulated signal between a Q/V band satellite transponder and the terminal will be performed. Targeted Improvements: 50% increase in performance over existing Ku- and Ka-band terminals. Description: One of the main areas of growth for the satcom market is the provision of high data rate Internet services to airplanes, especially in areas where only a satellite coverage is feasible, such as cross-Atlantic flights. The push for capacity in such areas might become so strong that existing Ka-band high throughput satellite (HTS) systems will not be able to cope with the future demand. The Q/V-band (40/50 GHz) is becoming a commercial reality for what concerns the feeder link for HTS systems. Beyond its use for feeder links, Q/V band is an attractivecandidate for aeronautical services, as it offers a significant amount of RF spectrum. Adverse propagation effects in this band arenotan issue for airplanes flying en-route above the cloud. However, apart from propagation effects, there are other risks that create concern, for example, the impact of Doppler and Doppler rate, phase noise, and antenna tracking. In order to advance the use ofQ/V-band for airplane services, this activity will design and manufacture a Q/V band aeronautical prototype terminal. A bidirectional link between a Q/V band satellite transponder and a terminal embarked on an airplane will be tested.