WHAT are COTS?

Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components and modules are assemblies, modules or parts designed for commercial applications for which the item manufacturer or vendor solely establishes and controls the specifications for performance, configuration, and reliability (including design, materials, processes, and testing) without additional requirements imposed by users and external organisations.

COTS for space

Space is becoming a more and more competitive sector, asking continuously for higher performance figures while reducing the overall cost from mission inception up to end of life decommissioning. This has consequences at all levels down to the selection and procurement of individual building blocks and components.

In parallel to this trend, electrical, electronic and electromechanical (EEE) parts designed for terrestrial applications such as automotive and other industrial sectors show high reliability when produced in massive quantities and while being subject to other industrial qualification schemes (for example, AEC-Q automotive standards).

Although some solutions matching space needs already exist, there is still a gap between space and terrestrial applications of components, and proper methodologies have yet to be developed and approved to allow a more systematic usage of COTS components and modules for space applications.

COTS for institutional space applications — the expected advantages

The expected advantages of COTS for institutional space applications are:

1. Performance: where equivalent performance is not obtainable by classical high-reliability (Hi-Rel) components
2. New Capabilities: where Hi-Rel components for performing a specific function don't exist yet
3. Cost: typically for large volumes or low reliability/low radiation application where important risks might be taken
4. Availability: benefit from production capability of supply chains for terrestrial use (in terms of modules)
5. Time: shorter lead times and lower risk of part unavailability (though this advantage might not be always clear, depending on procurement scheme, taking into account of quick obsolescence cycle of COTS components and their limited shelf life)

COTS for institutional space applications — the challenge

The volume of COTS procurement for a specific spacecraft project is typically low and it is difficult to guarantee full traceability of the components. Radiation performance of the component in particular can differ substantially between the procurement lots even if the component type is the same. In this scenario, reproducibility of the radiation test results is challenging.

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related ESA links, publications and webstories:

• From custom-made to commercial: how ESA is changing the way that spacecraft are built, 09/06/2020
• Related Discovery element campaign on OSIP: (link)

 

Following some preparatory studies, in 2019 ESA launched a Discovery Element campaign on marine litter, asking for ideas to detect and track seaborne plastic litter using satellites. Based on these ideas, all submitted via the then brand new Open Space Innovation Platform, 26 innovative projects have been kicked off in 2020 to together better map the direction humanity should take to achieve this ambition.

The campaign was overseen by ESA's Paolo Corradi, Moritz Fontaine and Leopold Summerer and the resulting activities were overseen by ESA's Alessandra Ciapponi, Paolo Corradi, Erio Gandini and Peter de Maagt.

The activities list (tab on the right here above) provide the status and outcome of these activities.

Quantum Technology for Space

Quantum mechanics is both a pillar of modern physics and a powerful tool to explore its boundaries. Over the past century our evolving understanding and control of quantum mechanical effects has allowed us to probe and manipulate the fundamental building blocks of the world around us in increasingly sophisticated ways.

Key enabling technologies have followed, such as lasers, transistors, solar cells and atomic clocks, that form the foundation on which many elements of our modern society are built. Recent progress on robustly exploiting quantum effects, such as entanglement and superposition, has led to the development of quantum technologies, that enable the processing of quantum information in various ways - quantum computing, sensing, simulation, cryptography and communication - and have the potential for far-reaching impact on our society and economy.

Parallel developments in space science and technology mean that the space environment, with its unique vantage and conditions, provides a powerful framework for novel applications of these technologies, as well as for tests of the foundations of physics.

Within this topical cluster you can find the different Discovery element quantum technology related activities listed. The aim of the cluster is to bring together researchers across activities that relate to quantum technologies to explore the synergies with space science and spur research on new and innovative scientific and technical concepts. It is related to several ongoing and past activities within ESA with the same goal.

Quantum Technology Cross-Cutting Initiative

Quantum technologies and innovative concepts for quantum information processing have been the subject of ESA research activities since 2002. The Quantum Technology Cross Cutting Initiative (QT-CCI) will build on this heritage and coordinate future ESA quantum technology activities with a large ESA-wide consultative process, and with a very close coordination with the needs of Industry, Research and Science. The implementation will later be executed in the most appropriate ESA programmes. This initiative will bridge different programmes, technical disciplines and technology levels, encouraging external partnerships.

The main QT-CCI objectives are:

• Identify and support the strategic interest of ESA member states, industry and academia.
• Stimulate ESA internal and external collaboration.
• Boost activities to raise TRL; implement in-orbit validation/demonstration (IOV/IOD) missions; increase research, development and testing capabilities; demonstrate applications and services.
• Provide increased visibility (internal and external) on quantum activities for space.

Quantum Information Processing Campaign

Quantum computing has the potential to improve performance, decrease computational costs and solve previously intractable problems. In particular, it could become a key capability for demanding tasks such as data storage and retrieval, image processing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the optimisation or simulation of complex systems; ESA’s Agenda 2025 highlights quantum computing as key for translating big data into smart information and services.

The Quantum Information Processing campaign was a call for ideas focussing on novel quantum information processing technologies or major advancements in known concepts that could be applied to ESA's activities. Activities that arose out of this call can be found in this topical cluster and also on the Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP) at this link.