Projects

Below is a list of all running or recently completed projects. Find out about projects funded by ESA through contracts awarded to previous ITTs.

Data and information in the Project section is originated by the Contractors, it is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended for trading purposes. ESA shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

	3D Manufacturing of Microwave Passive Components
	Company: Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG (D) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The objective of this activity is to develop a complete 3D end-to-end manufacturing process for the production of lightweight, complex microwave passive components for telecom payloads. The process will be based on Selective Laser Melting (SLM), a generative rapid prototyping process.
	ADaptive Antenna for Telecommunication Links
	Company: Space Engineering S.p.A (I) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: This study addresses the request to investigate antenna architectures able to shield a single selectable transponder channel of 36 MHz by the modification of an existing payload for broadcasting coverage application.
	Advanced Modem Prototype for Interactive Satellite Terminals
	Company: Space Engineering S.p.A (I) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The project aims to develop a laboratory test-bed including a modem prototype (terminal and hub sides) implementing some innovative physical and MAC layer algorithms/techniques suitable to enhance the performance of broadband interactive satellite terminals implementing the DVB-RCS standard.
	APEXX: Algorithms for Pre-distortion and Equalization of tX and rX terminals
	Company: TZR (D) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The project aims to investigate some key technologies for on-ground processing techniques to minimize non-linear effects in multi-carrier operation mode. Pre-distortion and equalization algorithms will be analysed and evaluated by software simulations.
	Bandpass Filter with In Orbit Reconfigurable Bandwidth
	Company: Space Engineering S.p.A (I) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: This project aims at the development of a on-board tunable channel filter in Ku-Band, which is the first step for the development of such reconfigurable IMUX devices.
	Deployable Gossamer Sail for Deorbiting
	Company: University of Surrey (UK) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: This project involves the analysis, design and manufacturing of a deployable gossamer sail for satellite de-orbiting. It will address the growing concern of orbital debris and space debris mitigation by providing a low-cost reliable solution to providers of future space equipment.
	DVB-RCS Next Generation Support and Verification Testbed
	Company: VeriSat (N) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The main objective of this activity is to design and develop a software-only based Testbed operating on a number of PCs. The goal is to fully validate key functions of the DVB-RCS2 standard (EN301545).
	DVB-S2/RCS Mobile Broadband Verification Test-Bed
	Company: Space Engineering S.p.A (I) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The project activity consists of developing a laboratory test-bed capable of emulating in real time a complete satcom system. The system implements the DVB-S2/RCS mobile specifications, applicable to both LOS and NLOS conditions and for both aggregate and not-aggregate types of traffic.
	Frequency Flexible M2M Terminal Modem Development
	Company: Space Engineering S.p.A (I) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: The purpose of the activity is to study, develop and validate key technologies for a baseband modem prototype for an M2M/SCADA terminal for star network applications, particularly focusing on fixed assets applications, and exploiting the full capabilities offered by DVB-RCS2 specifications.
	High Accuracy Antenna Pointing System
	Company: EADS Astrium SAS (F) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The study aims to identify the architecture and critical technologies required to fulfill the future demand in High Accuracy Antenna Pointing Systems to cope with highly demanding multimedia missions using very small beamwidth (up to 0.2 degrees).
	Highly Integrated BFN using on Chip Multinode Concept
	Company: Space Engineering S.p.A (I) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: This project aims to design, manufacture and test an EM of a Ku band BFN module based on a multinode on chip implementation using a European MMIC process, as well as a multinode MMIC for use in future Ku band phased array mobile terminals.
	Ku-Band High-Power Reconfigurable Broadcast Antenna
	Company: Space Engineering S.p.A (I) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: The objective of this project is the design of a reconfigurable Ku-band high power broadcast antenna with flexible power allocation, working on multiple-beam and global-beam coverage, with dual-polarization capability, to cope with changes in user demand over the satellite lifetime.
	Ku-Band OMUX 500 Watt per Channel
	Company: Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG (D) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: This activity focuses on the development, design, simulation, manufacturing and testing of a multichannel OMUX (Output Multiplexer) with an allowed input power of 500W or more for each channel.
	MIMO HW Demonstrator
	Company: Elektrobit Wireless Communications Ltd. (FIN) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: This project will study and evaluate the applicability of MIMO techniques to satellite communications with the key application as DVB-SH. The work has been divided into 2 phases, where the 1st phase focuses on the study and develops a SW simulation environment to evaluate the performance of the selected MIMO techniques.
	MIMOSA: Characterisation of the MIMO Channel for Mobile Satellite Systems
	Company: Fraunhofer (D) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The goal of the MIMOSA project is to develop a propagation channel model including a software simulator implementation for satellite MIMO channels valid for L to C-bands taking satellite and polarisation diversity into account.
	Miniaturized MWR for SatCom Ground Stations
	Company: Omnisys Instruments AB (S) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: This project aims to design and develop the prototype of a miniaturised microwave radiometer to be used as a channel assessment instrument in the ground segment of Satellite Communications systems and in SatCom propagation campaigns.
	Mobile Terminal Antenna Operating at both KU Band and KA Band
	Company: Indra Espacio (E) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: The project addresses the design, manufacture and experimental verification of the feasibility of a mobile terminal antenna design able to operate at both the Ku and Ka-bands. The challenges are huge due to the wide spectrum bandwidth that must be covered in order to obtain an operational system.
	Mobile Tracking Needs
	Company: Fraunhofer (D) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The objective of this activity is to design, develop and publish a database that provides relevant statistical data for the design of tracking systems for mobile satellite terminals.
	NEXA for HDRM
	Company: RUAG Space Austria GmbH (A) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: The NEXA is a non-explosive low shock actuator for hold down and release mechanisms.
	On Ground Beam Forming Network and Multiuser Detection Proof of Concept
	Company: Space Engineering S.p.A (I) Programme Element: ARES 5.1 Description: This project aims at designing, developing and testing a Proof-of-Concept Test-Bed of an On-Ground Beam-Forming and Multi User Detection system to demonstrate the feasibility of such technology for space telecommunication application.
	OPASKEP (Optimisation of NS, EW Station-Keeping Manoeuvres for GEO Satellites using Electric Propulsion)
	Company: GMV (E) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The project objective is to develop optimal guidance laws for full electric propulsion station-keeping of GEO satellites with their corresponding thrusters accommodation architectures.
	Optical Communications Transceiver for Fade Tolerant Data Relay Links
	Company: Oerlikon Space (CH) Programme Element: Payload Equipment Description: This project encompasses the development of key technologies required for UAV - GEO communications links. It encompasses a pulsed laser transmitter for PPM communications and a fade tolerant acquisition and tracking sensor.
	Opto-Microwave Wideband Reconfigurable Receiver
	Company: Thales Alenia Space - France (F) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The aim of the study is to design, manufacture and test an Elegant BreadBoard for an opto-microwave wideband reconfigurable receiver front-end for future broadband telecom payloads.
	Physical-statistical models for mobile satellite communication systems below 10 GHz (PhyStat)
	Company: ONERA (F) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The objective of the study is to develop Land Mobile Satellite channel propagation models which will cover land-mobile satellite, aeronautical and maritime environments, and are intended to be used for system design and/or air-interface performance optimisation for frequencies below 10 GHz.
	Planar Array Active Antennas for Mobile Terminals
	Company: JAST Antenna Systems (CH) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The design of a T/R Ku-band electronically steerable antenna based on a horizontal integration will consider various approaches, covering both technological and system aspects, enabling the realization of a low-cost architecture.
	Plastic Liners for Pressure Tanks
	Company: MAGNA STEYR Aerospace (A) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: In this project a proof-of concept composite tank using a non-metallic liner was developed and demonstrated with an engineering model. The verification of design and materials was done analytically by FE analysis and experimentally by testing.
	Propagation Models for Interference and Frequency Coordination Analyses
	Company: Czech Technical University in Prague (CZ) Programme Element: ARTES 5.1 Description: The aim of the project is to develop and experimentally validate propagation models and relevant input data for the statistical prediction of radio interference on ground terminals of satellite systems.
	Temperature Compensation Techniques for Waveguide Filters, Manifolds and Multiplexers - Tesat
	Company: Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG (D) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The project objective is to develop a temperature compensation technique for both high power OMUXs and manifolds at Ka-band.
	Xenon Flow Meter for Propellant Gauging
	Company: Bradford (NL) Programme Element: ARTES 5 Description: The objective is to design, develop and test an Engineering Model of a Xenon Flow Meter with high accuracy across a wide flow range to provide a better prediction of the remaining propellant at mid-life than the current PVT method. A key issue is the severe physical property variation of the xenon over the operational pressure and temperature range, as the xenon can be in gas, liquid or supercritical phase.
Show completed projects