Current European RF GaN power processes are optimised for up to K band, however the efficiency is less than is required to meet future planned missions. In order to meet the need for operation up to W band with up to 20% improvement in efficiency, together with improvements in linearity, a step change in device architecture is required.

Future Moon exploration missions require very high data rates, in particular for the uplink, that are not supported by the current state-of-art on-board technology.This activity focuses on the design of a receiver capable of handling very high data rates and low SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) values, making novel use of the 22GHz for TTC (Telemetry, Tracking Command) uplink.The activity encompasses the following tasks:1 - Consolidation of the high level requirements of a lunar communications architecture for the Earth-Space link 2 - Design the overall on-board receiver architecture based on th

With the development of vibration-free AOCS technologies (magnetic bearing reaction wheels, microthrusters), cryocoolers (Stirling, Pulse Tube) will become the main source of microvibrations. To overcome this difficulty and cope with missions (Science and Earth Observation) that have more and more stringent pointing requirements, it is necessary to develop alternate cooling solution or to adapt current technologies to generate no mechanical disturbances.

Science TTC systems, Earth observation instruments and Telecommunication system payloads are more and more calling for multi-frequency reflector-based high gain antennas. As examples, one may refer to altimeters, radiometers and SAR (e.g. COREH2O) for Earth Observation and high-gain data transmission antennas as for the JUICE mission requiring both X- and Ka-band frequencies. Multi-frequency and multi-polarisation operation is often required hence the need for Frequency/polarization Selective Surfaces(FSS) integrated with (sub)reflectors or partially reflective surface.

The interest of having in the near future an available Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) service supporting future missions to and at the Moon is currently supported by both institutional and commercial initiatives. On the commercial side, multiple companies are developing business solutions targeting the Moon and several major European companies are proposing to team up to build a communications network on the Moon compatible to terrestrial standards. In parallel, NASA has recently announced its plans to a ?Return to the moon?