ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO10233
Open Date: 17/02/2020
Closing Date: 30/03/2020 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 20.133.02
Prog. Ref.: Technology Developme
Budget Ref.: E/0901-01 – Technology Developme
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+PL+EE+HU
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Launchers / Propulsion / Reaction and Attitude Control Systems / Orbital Transportation & Re-entry Systems / Propulsion and Reboost / Chemical Propulsion Systems ¿ BB / Combustion chambers / Orbital Transportation & Re-entry Systems / Propulsion and Reboost / Chemical Propulsion Systems ¿ BB / Nozzles / Satellites & Probes / Materials / Metallic
Technology Domains: Propulsion / Chemical Propulsion Technologies / Liquid Propulsion Systems / Materials and Processes / Modelling of Materials Behaviour and Properties / Modelling of Thermomechanical / Processes of Materials including Lifetime Predictions
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. & Quality
Department: Mechanical Department
Division: Structure, Mechanisms & Materials Div.
Contract Officer: Reinsoo, Anna
Industrial Policy Measure: C1 – Activities in open competition limited to the non-Larg…
Last Update Date: 17/02/2020
Update Reason: Tender issue

Objective(s) of the Activity: The primary objective is to establish material test data for common thruster nozzle/ chamber materials tested at elevated temperatures with respect to thermal fatigue and creep performance in order to establish the appropriate scatter factors for these properties. This will provide an improved understanding on thruster level design, qualification and reliability.The data will form the foundation for a potential relaxation in design requirements (scatter factors) for the development of futurethruster products on ESA programmes. A comprehensive set of material data is required through a dedicated testing programme, whichwill allow an improved understanding of the scatter factor for this application. The proposed activity needs to include thecommon materials used in thruster chamber/nozzles, such as Niobium alloys (C103), Platinum-Rhodium alloys, Rhenium and high temperature Nickelalloys (see Annex C for exhaustive list). A minimum of four different materials shall form part of the test matrix (options 1 4).If funding permits then an additional candidate material is to be selected (option 5). The activity shall be limited to those materials defined within this document unless approved otherwise by the agency. The candidate materials shall be fully representative of those used in the flight configuration in terms of procurement specifications and heat treatment. No surface treatments are to be applied, unless it is considered a necessity to provide satisfactory protection against oxidation. There is no requirement to simulatethe thruster geometric features or to test in the welded condition. The properties of interest shall include fatigue and creep atrepresentative operational temperatures as well as supporting tensile testing for reference purposes. A moderate number of samples (~30) will need to be tested for each case in order to achieve statistical relevance (A-basis/ B-basis). All mechanical testing at elevated temperatures shall all be conducted in vacuum or inert gas to ensure that the test results are not influenced by the test environment. The current Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is 2 with a target of TRL of 4 for this activity. The budget for this programme is 450k (Euro). Due to the high cost of the test candidate materials, recycling agreement(s) will be required withthe material suppliers to ensure the testing can be completed within the allocated budget. 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”.