ESA Open Invitation To Tender AO8331
Open Date: 08/06/2015
Closing Date: 07/09/2015
Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 15.1EE.22
Prog. Ref.: TRP
Budget Ref.: E/0901-01 – TRP
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+PL
Tender Type: C
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Technical & Quality Manag
Department: Electrical Engineering Department
Division: Electromagnetics and Space Environment D
Contract Officer: Houten, Marnix
Last Update Date: 08/06/2015
Update Reason: Tender issue
To design and develop a Sparse Direct Radiating Arrays for Telecom satellite missions with a reduced number of elements, improved aperture efficiency and increased scanning capabilities in order to a) improve the performance in GEO missions and b) to apply them also for MEO/LEO missions. Direct Radiating Arrays are an efficient solution for transmit and receive multibeam antennas for GEO but also for LEO/MEO constellations and for ground systems. The interest for such antennas is confirmed by European leadership in providing active and passive arrays for the 1st and 2nd generation of Globalstar and Iridium. Direct Radiating Arrays allow generating multiple beams with a high degree of reconfigurability/flexibility. Their limitations in complexity and cost have been counterweighted in LEO/MEO applications by their wide scan capability and graceful degradation. Cost reduction has been achieved thanks to large production of active modules. This activity will be focused on Active Sparse Arrays since they represent a valid alternative to existing periodic arrays. Active Sparse Arrays, recently considered for GEO missions in Ka-band with limited field-of-view, allow reducing the number of elements; realising phased arrays with a simplified BFN; increasing the DC to RF efficiency of active transmit antennas. These advantages, combined with recent progresses on HPAs, may enable drastic improvements in multibeam active arrays. This activity shall be devoted to the design and development of antenna systems generating spot and/or shaped beams in a large field of view ensuring Transmit and/or Receive functionalities in Ku, Ka, or higher frequencies. The activity shall be divided in two contractual phases. The first phase shall include design, analysis and optimization of the Antenna architecture. The second phase shall include manufacturing and testing of a limited breadboard.
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