Satellite earth stations

Tender description

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). DSTL requires a relocatable satellite groundstation, and associated services, to conduct research and development (R and D) into activities including demonstrator missions, satellite operations, telemetry, and payload reception. The groundstation shall initially be designed to communicate with multi-mission demonstrator satellites, orbiting in both LEO and GEO, designed and built by existing Dstl/MOD suppliers, but also with those of other international satellite suppliers, including those produced directly by the governments of sovereign nations. The communications are in ITU frequency allocation bands. As an R and D asset, the Customer envisages minor modifications to the RF specification throughout the groundstation’s operational lifetime to ensure multi-mission functionality. The Customer requires a relocatable satellite groundstation, and associated services, to conduct research and development (R and D) activities including demonstrator missions, satellite operations, telemetry, and payload reception. The groundstation shall initially be designed to receive payload data from on-orbit demonstrator satellites designed and built by existing DSTL/MOD suppliers, but also with those of other international satellite suppliers, including those produced directly by the governments of sovereign nations. The satellites orbit in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO). The long-term objective is to develop the groundstation to include satellite mission monitoring and control with Tasking, Telemetry and Command (TT and C) capability for on-orbit satellite(s).