Published date: 4 October 2021

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 22 October 2021, 12pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Satellite antennas - 32324310

  • Satellite-related communications equipment - 32530000

  • Satellite communications equipment - 32531000

    • Satellite platforms - 32534000

    • Spacecraft, satellites and launch vehicles - 34712000

    • Satellites - 34712200

    • Communication satellites - 35631100

Location of contract

North East

Value of contract

£100,000 to £500,000

Procurement reference

BIP630346309

Published date

4 October 2021

Closing date

22 October 2021

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

1 November 2021

Contract end date

17 March 2022

Contract type

Supply contract

Procedure type

Open procedure

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

No

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

The space communications sector is currently booming with the emergence of low cost, short-turnaround and high production rate satellites, such as CubeSats, small-sats and low earth orbit (LEO) constellations. Here we explicitly refer to the CubeSat technology although much of what we propose could be applied to all forms of small-satellite platforms. One significant drawback for CubeSats is that they are not currently applicable for data intensive applications, spanning from commercial telecommunications to remote sensing science missions (Earth observation, solar/terrestrial and astrophysics). We are seeking a supplier who can provide us with expert knowledge of the thermal and mechanical environment of CubeSats in low Earth polar Sun-synchronous orbits, as well as the listed 3U CubeSat hardware, so that we can incorporate and lab demonstrate (TRL-7) a prototype system for 1 Gbps FSO-based CubeSat-to-CubeSat (C2C) communications.

More information

Links

About the buyer

Contact name

Jon Borley

Address

Pandon Building
Camden Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8ST
UK

Telephone

01912274303

Email

jon.borley@northumbria.ac.uk