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Microprocessors (uPs) are the backbone of digital electronic systems commonly present in spacecraft. 

The activity investigated a novel hybrid magnetic shielding system that uses both passive and active cancelation. The design and simulations used, along with the characterisation and measurements taken on the optimised system, are summarised in the executive summary report, and described in more detail in the Final Report. This activity was divided in two main work packages: study of optimisation and magnetic shield prototype.

The aim of this activity is to:

The ESA Deep Space Network consists of three 35m beam waveguide antennas located around the globe. The 35m beam waveguide antennas employ an X-Band feed covering the Deep Space uplink band near 7.2 GHz and down-link band near 8.45 GHz. Simultaneous uplink commanding at 20 kW and low noise reception (Generation #2) is supported. In order to increase the transmit power capability of ESA Deep Space antennas it is currently considered to add a new high power feed and associated 80 kW High Power Amplifier.

To develop large-scale infrastructure on the Moon, many different systems will have to be shipped to the Moon to produce the necessary components. This means that the traditional design of systems cannot be assumed and a production machine cannot be expected to provide its own power especially when power demand is in the 100 kW – 1 MW range.

Payload data transmitters in Earth Observation (EO) missions are moving from X-band to K-band (i.e. 25.5 to 27 GHz), where the downlink data rates can be increased due to the four times higher availability of bandwidth than in X-band. In addition, an interest is certainly growing in the field of small-size satellites and cube-sats. Therefore, there is a need to reduce the size/mass of the K-Band transmitter while increasing the DC-to-RF efficiency in order to relax the constraints of the thermal management systems at platform level.

To realize the next generation of gravitational wave detectors, Nikhef, the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics started developing a novel seismic sensor: An ultra-sensitive miniaturised accelerometer made in micro-electro- mechanical system (MEMS) technology. The goal was to develop an affordable accelerometer that was as sensitive as conventional seismometers, but significantly smaller and cheaper. Innoseis, a spin-off company, has been licensed to bring this cutting-edge technology to market.