Tenders Are Invited For Demisable Electric Propulsion Thruster For Low Earth Orbit Telecom Constellation Satellites

Tenders are invited for Demisable Electric Propulsion Thruster for Low Earth Orbit Telecom Constellation Satellites. Open Date: 29/04/2025 09:48 CET Closing Date: 04/07/2025 13:00 CET Price Range: 500 KEURO Objective: The objective of the activity is to design and manufacture a fully demisable electric propulsion thruster as needed for low-earth orbit (LEO) telecom constellation satellites.Testing will include on an engineering model of the demisable thruster, and it shall include vibration, performance mapping and an endurance test of significant duration to confirm the design for demisability. Part of the activity is also the assessment and test of critical thruster components for demisability.Targeted Improvements:Enabling a European source of fully demisable electric propulsion thruster for telecom constellation satellitesDescription: In the lastdecades, the amount of space debris has increased substantially, and it is now considered a critical issue by the space community. State of the art regulations and policies are evolving to consider the risks associated to the debris proliferation and increasing launch traffic (e.g. ESA has made a leap forward in the protection of the space environment by issuing a new set of Space Debris Mitigation Requirements (ESSB-ST-U-007 Issue 1).Satellites of large LEO constellations are being requested to become fully demisable under these new requirements. Electric Propulsion (EP) thrusters are the preferred technology for European and non-European LEO telecom constellation satellites to perform orbit insertion, orbit changes, orbit maintenance, repositioning, collision avoidance and deorbiting at end of life. However, large uncertainties remain on the demisability of these thrusters due to the materials used (e.g. high melting temperature materials like ceramics and graphite) and lack of experimental data.This activity will in a first step characterise the demise behaviour of an electric propulsion thruster planned to be used in future LEO telecommunication constellations satellites.The experimental data will be used to correlate and improve the modelling accuracy of the fragmentation process and demiseof critical thruster components during re-entry.The activity will carry out an assessment and revision of all materials, parts and components used in electric propulsion thrusters and develop alternative solutions to make the thruster 100% demisable. Dedicated plasma wind tunnel testing at material/part level shall be conducted for critical thruster components. An electric propulsion thrusters shall be designed with the goal to achieve full ablation during re-entry while retaining suitable performance for their mission application. An Engineering Model of the demisable thruster shall be manufactured and tested to evaluate performance. Testing shall include vibration, performance mapping and an endurance test of significant duration to confirm non detrimental effects of the demisability. Tender Link : https://esastar-publication-ext.sso.esa.int/ESATenderActions/filter/open