STANDARDISED FUNCTIONAL POWER CONTROL MODULES FOR CONSTELLATIONS SATELLITES (ARTES AT 4F.182) - EXPRO+

Objective: The objective of the activity is to design, build and test standardised functional power modules resulting in a Commercial-off-the-Shelf-based Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit (PCDU) consisting of the solar array regulator, the controller module, the battery management module, the power distribution module and the deployment module, for telecomsconstellations applications.Techniques and technologies to improve the power efficiency will be studied and implemented as well as health monitoring capabilities as needed to comply with Zero Debris requirements.Targeted Improvements: - Power module manufacturing time reduction by 80% andreduction of risk of production delay- PCDU efficiency improvement of up to 15% thanks to solar regulator efficiency improvement by10 percentage points and 50% improvement of the power distribution module.Description: Typical space power units are designed andbuilt to comply with project-specific specifications. As a consequence, manufacturers implement different solutions, which are notcompatible nor interoperable. Therefore, a specific power unit can only be built by a specific manufacturer. When large number of units have to be built this often poses a supply chain challenge. APA is an advanced power architecture standard developed with EuropeanPrimes with the potential to overcome supply chain bottlenecks. It aims at standardising the electrical and mechanical interfaceofmodular power distribution units and hence unit production can easily be spread among multiple suppliers.This activity will identify opportunities for standardisation of power control modules for constellations satellites taking the APA and other available standards as a starting point. The activity will then design, manufacture and test key functional power modules for a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) based Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit (PCDU),consisting of the solar array regulator, the controller module,the battery management module, the distribution module and the deployment module, for telecoms constellations applications. Techniquesand technologies to improve the power efficiency will be studied. This shall include wide band-gap semiconductor technology and theuse of switchedlatching current limiters. Health monitoring capabilities as needed to comply with Zero Debris requirements willbe developed and implemented. Standardised power control engineering modules will be built, tested and assembled forming a COTS-based PCDU full engineering model. Testing will be carried out in a representative environment to evaluate the performance.Procurement Policy: C(2) = A relevant participation (in terms of quality and quantity) of non-primes (incl. SMEs) is required. For additional information please go to:http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Business_with_ESA/Small_and_Medium_Sized_Enterprises/Opportunities_for_SMEs/Procurement_policy_on_fair_access_for_SMEs_-_the_C1-C4_Clauses