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

  • Populated printed circuit boards - 31712310

  • Satellite communications equipment - 32531000

  • Communication satellites - 35631100

Location of contract

North East

Value of contract

£100,000 to £500,000

Procurement reference

BIP630346669

Published date

4 October 2021

Closing date

22 October 2021

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

1 November 2021

Contract end date

16 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

Currently, the highest heritage ka-band radio frequency (RF) technology in small sats (herein we refer to them as CubeSats) can achieve 10-100 kbps with an onboard data storage capacity of ~8 GBytes (similar to SD cards in mobile phones). The aim of this experimental research project is to replace the existing low-speed RF and high-power transceiver in CubeSats with the high-speed, light weight and lower power free-space optical (FSO) wireless technology. The proposed intensity-modulation/direct-detection (IM/DD) FSO system will use an infrared laser source prototyped by Durham and Northumbria Universities in collaboration with UK-based industry partner SMS Electronics Limited. The high-speed electronics (encoding, modulation, etc.), the drive circuit and the optical head as well as the optical receiver together with all the supporting data, control, and optics modules will now be optimized and fabricated, increasing to TRL-7. We are seeking a sub-contractor who will help us to design and develop (to PCB layout and bring-up testing) a full working prototype of the electronics boards for handling high speed (1 Gbps) data transmission using our FSO system design, incorporating radiation hardened components, flight-ready controller, and buffering to interface with the satellite bus.

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