Design for Demise is the intentional design of spacecraft hardware such that the spacecraft will completely ablate (demise) upon uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry during post-mission disposal, or even during unexpected re-entry due to critical system failure.Demisability has been identified as needed to reduce the risk of human causality and damage to property on Earth, and guarantee safety from satellite and spacecraft atmospheric re-entries.

There is an increasing need for ever smaller pulse-tube coolers. These coolers have the characteristics necessary for space applications because the absence of moving parts in the cold finger makes them extremely reliable and any induced vibrations are typically smaller and easier to control.

But these types of cooler are less efficient and have a lower power density. Typically, this is resolved by increasing their drive frequency, to reduce amplitudes and displacements, which means that the coolers are smaller

Provision of integrity in harsh terrestrial environment is very difficult due to the increasing rate of failure induced by the local effects. Analysis of these events shall be performed together with the possible countermeasure and detection mechanism in order to minimise the integrity impact maximising service availability and continuity. Ground Integrity Channel as EGNOS and GALILEO will only cover the system events so usage of local solutions is mandatory to cope with the local threats.

Given that a navigation signal is weak when received by a GNSS receiver on earth it can be easily interfered by other signals. Field campaigns, performed up to now, at numerous locations, have shown that the level of interference in Galileo E5 and E6 could be, quite often, significantly higher than the typical level of interference in Galileo E1. In the frame of the ESA GSP activity Interference Information Systems (IIS) several concepts for interference mitigation were proposed and preliminary assessed from a theoretical and conceptual perspective; amongst them the following:1.

Since 2003 ESA has promoted studies in order to establish scientific requirements, identify the most appropriate measurement techniques, start the associated technology developments, and define the system scenarios for a Next-Generation Gravity Mission (NGGM). Such a mission will make use of the Low-Low Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking (LL-SST) technique to monitor the temporal variations of the Earth gravity field over a long time span but with much higher spatial resolution and with improved temporal resolution.

The library has already been defined in the Phase 1 TRP activity (KIPSAT). The present activity proposes the design, prototyping and testing of Standard Cell and Metal Customizable libraries, representing in total ~ 300 cells. Simulations shall be performed to demonstrate the cells performances and cells radiation hardness. Ageing shall also be taken into account by considering 20 years operational lifetime. The libraries test vehicles shall be manufactured and evaluated according the ECSS test procedures (temperature, radiation). The libraries shall also propose memory generators.

After prolonged interplanetary trips, the human neuron-muscular-skeletal system suffers severe deconditioning and impairment of the corresponding functions. In particular, the loss of neuron-sensory control and motor skills can be problematic and shall be counteracted efficiently. Integrated countermeasure systems shall be developed to allow astronauts being fit as soon as possible after landing (be it on earth or at their destination, e.g. Moon/Mars).

Communication links between GNSS satellites are required if the constellation shall operate for an extended time without ground contact. Under such circumstances, jamming resistance is considered a critical requirement and optical links can provide the ultimate protection from ground-to-space jamming. At the same time, low cost, high reliability and small size, mass and power are important to be implemented on a GNSS constellation. The activity shall review the requirements on intersatellite links based on the GNSS architecture.

Communication links between GNSS satellites are required if the constellation shall operate for an extended time without ground contact. Under such circumstances, jamming resistance is considered a critical requirement and optical links can provide the ultimate protection from ground-to-space jamming. At the same time, low cost, high reliability and small size, mass and power are important to be implemented on a GNSS constellation. The activity shall review the requirements on intersatellite links based on the GNSS architecture.

Carrier phase measurements are more precise than pseudorange measurements and are used for high precision services. The quality of the carrier phase measurements influences directly the Galileo/EGNOS Ground-Segment navigation and integrity algorithms output quality, as well as the GPS/Galileo professional and mass market user positioning accuracy. Unfortunately, phase tracking can be severely stressed under ionospheric scintillation (under severe scintillation, phase may change too fast for being tracked by the receiver).