Implemented OSIP ideas — August 2021
ESA's Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP) seeks novel ideas for new space research activities. Campaigns and Channels invite solutions to specific problems or ideas on more general topics, with those run by Discovery & Preparation, including the Open Discovery Ideas Channel, specifically looking for ideas that could be implemented as system studies, early technology developments, or PhD or postdoc research co-funded by ESA and a university.
Open Discovery Ideas Channel
In August 2021, the following ideas were implemented through the Open Discovery Ideas Channel.
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Radiative heat transfer in the wake of entry vehicles for the outer gas planets
University of Oxford
Future space probes visiting Neptune and Uranus will experience extreme heat when they enter the planets' atmospheres. To protect them, a large thermal protection system is needed. But because we're not sure how quickly these spacecraft would heat up, we need to make sure the thermal protection system is big enough that it leaves no room for doubt, leaving less space for scientific instruments. This co-funded research project aims to improve our understanding of certain processes that heat up a spacecraft as it enters an atmosphere, so that we can better design thermal protection systems and leave more room for instruments.
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Enhancing flexibility and throughput for space active phased arrays with advanced signal processing and resource allocation strategies
Heriot-Watt University
Satellite communication services are increasingly shifting from broadcast (e.g. TV) to broadband (e.g. IP) services. Advantages of this include addressing the digital gap and delivering ubiquitous connectivity. Current projections suggest that the data rate capacity will increase worldwide by a factor of more than five in the next ten years. This co-funded research project seeks to address whether this amount of data – distributed non-uniformly and varying on both daily and seasonal timescales – can be consistently supported by satellite missions relying on existing technology. The researchers will investigate whether high-throughput satellites – communication satellites that provide more throughput than classic communication satellites – could flexibly allocate the resource worldwide according to traffic demands.
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Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components
The following ideas were implemented through the Campaign for new ideas for the use of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components.
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Systematic assessment of single event effect homogeneity in wide band gap COTS technology
Airbus Defence and Space
Read about this public idea in OSIP
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Heavy ion failure rate computation based on sensitive volume characterisation in GaN/AlGaN FETs
Airbus Defence and Space
Read about this public idea in OSIP
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