Future missions are currently being proposed / designed with existing (or moderately inproved) Space-to-Earth communication capabilities in mind. Optical communications technology offers the potential of a dramatic increase in data-rates, specifically in the down-link of science data, thereby allowing for a substantial increase in science return.Direct detection technology using pulse position modulation (PPM) is regarded as the preferred solution for "deep space" optical links.

A digital twin merges a data model with AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology and the existing expertise. It hence allows for an unsurpassed level of monitoring via real-time and continuous assessment and evaluation, precise diagnostics, maintenance prediction, downtime prevention and maximised equipment effectiveness. The Digital Twin concept is getting more and more traction, and is envisaged notably for space missions or for spacecraft.

Recent developments in optimisation formulation and software design have allowed multi-criteria optimisation problems to be solved in real-time on typical space-grade processors. An important potential application is slew attitude guidance in the presence of actuator limitations and star tracker or instrument exclusion zones, particularly when slew time is critical.The optimisation problem can be formulated as time, fuel or pointing error (during slew) minimisation with constraints of exclusion zones and actuator authority envelopes.

Louvers are active thermal control elements that are typically placed over external radiators to be able to tune heat rejection from typically a factor 1 (fully closed) to 5 (fully open). The most commonly used louver is the bimetallic, spring-actuated, rectangular blade louver also known as venetian-blind louver. One of the known drawbacks of this technology is the mass and volume it requires, in particular with regards to the deployment of blades.

The Envision CDF exercise has concluded that a bit rate of 75 Mbps is required to comply with the data return strategy, mainly due to big quantity of data produced by the proposed SAR instrument.At the Venus distances the received power on earth is quite limited, requiring a very efficient modulation and coding system.Turbo rate 1/4 is a very efficient coding mode, allowing to go down to Eb/No of 0 to 0.25 dB, which is around 1 dB better than the LDPC 1/2 codes, which is the current solution used in EUCLID at these high data rates.

Micro-switches are position sensors that provide position information once per movement or once per turn. Micro-switches are frequently used in Space mechanisms to provide telemetry or to provide positive indication of the achievement of a desired position or function (i.e. open, close, ready-to-latch, latched, end of travel, turn, reference position, etc.) for different mechanism applications like deployment mechanisms, instrument mechanisms, antenna pointing mechanisms, rotary mechanisms, etc.

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