ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9656
Open Date: 26/02/2019
Closing Date: 23/04/2019 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 18.164.11
Prog. Ref.: MP- Studies;Preparation Element
Budget Ref.: E/0401-01 – MP- Studies;E/0600-05 – Preparation Element
Special Prov.: AT+BE+CH+CZ+DE+DK+EE+ES+FI+FR+GB+GR+HU+IE+IT+LU+NL+NO+PL+PT+RO+SE+SI+CA
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / Other
Techology Domains: Others
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Science
Department: Future Missions Office
Contract Officer: Byberg, Helena
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 28/02/2019
Update Reason: Modified a Clarification(English version) 1

M5 System Studies Parallel Phase A contracts for the three M5 candidate missions. Parallel Phase B1 contracts for the selected M5 mission following the Phase A. The scientific goals of the THESEUS mission are to explore the early Universe by unveiling a complete census and characterisation of the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) population in the first billion years, and to perform a deep monitoring of the X-ray transient Universe. For this purpose, the THESEUS payload elements consist of (i) a near-infrared IRT telescope and IRT instrument with imaging and spectral capabilities, (ii) a Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) made of a set of 4 ‘Lobster-Eye’ X-ray telescopes covering the 0.3 – 5 keV energy range, (iii) an X-Gamma-rays Imaging Spectrometer (XGIS) including 2 detection units operating in the 2 keV 20 MeV energy range, and (iv) a Trigger Burst Unit communicating the basic properties of GRBs to the ground just after detection. The THESEUS spacecraft would be injected into a low Earth orbit by a Vega C launcher.