Closed

Quantum Space Gravimetry Phase-a Study

HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

Basic Information

Identifier
HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-63
Programme
STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN DEVELOPING, DEPLOYING AND USING GLOBAL SPACE-BASED INFRASTRUCTURES, SERVICES, APPLICATIONS AND DATA 2023
Programme Period
2021 - 2027
Status
Closed (31094503)
Opening Date
December 22, 2022
Deadline
March 28, 2023
Deadline Model
single-stage
Budget
€23,100,000
Min Grant Amount
€4,000,000
Max Grant Amount
€10,000,000
Expected Number of Grants
4
Keywords
HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-63HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01Earth Observation / Services and applicationsQuantum magnetometersQuantum sensors

Description

Expected Outcome:

  • Support the EU space policy and the EU Green Deal by assessing the feasibility of a quantum space gravimetry pathfinder mission
  • Propose a mission, system and operation concept for the Quantum Space Gravimetry pathfinder mission
  • Establish the list of critical components for a Quantum Space Gravimetry mission

These outcomes will contribute to securing the EU autonomy of supply for critical technologies and equipment, and foster the EU's space sector competitiveness, in line with the Expected Impact of the destination.

Up to two phase-A study proposals will be selected under this call, and their outcomes will contribute to the selection of a Quantum Space Gravimetry pathfinder mission. Activities under this call will also foster the EU leadership in the field of quantum sensing technologies.

Scope:

The final objective of this call is the selection of a Quantum Space Gravimetry pathfinder mission. To achieve this objective, two phase-A proposals for a feasibility study, as specified in ECSS‐M‐ST‐10C, will be selected. The scope of this topic covers in particular the system and operations concept of the pathfinder mission leading to a technical solution deployable before the end of the decade. A particular attention will be drawn on the analysis of the critical technologies and components necessary to deploy this mission, and proposals shall address the technological maturation necessary to meet this objective, based on EU solutions. The proposals will detail the reviews organised under the study. These reviews, organised by the consortium, will be open to European Commission’s and ESA’s experts. Each study will conclude with a Preliminary Requirement Review.

Quantum Space Gravimetry Pathfinder Mission Statement:

The goals of the quantum space gravimetry (QSG) pathfinder mission are:

  1. to consolidate the leadership of the European Union know-how in Quantum Sensing for Space and
  2. to demonstrate key technologies, their viability and related performances.

Necessary for the later deployment of a full QSG mission (e.g. (e.g. Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) technology, rotation compensation, etc.), and pave the way to future space-based applications and services enabled by its data.

The focus of the QSG pathfinder mission shall be on the operation of a complete quantum accelerometer system and the detailed characterization of its performance in space. The results of the pathfinder mission, demonstrating the European Union capabilities and validating the technology, shall enable the development of ultra-sensitive sensors for an ambitious post-pathfinder QSG mission in the next step.

The QSG pathfinder mission shall be launched within this decade, paving the way for the deployment of an EU QSG mission within the next decade. The technology developed shall foster the EU non-dependence and leadership in this domain.

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.

null

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 3 by the end of the project – The reference TRL definition is the ISO 16290:2013 applicable to the space sector.

Destination & Scope

 

Eligibility & Conditions

General conditions

The page limit of the application is 75 pages.

General conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System

2. Eligible countries: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source, in a global context that requires the EU to take action to build on its strengths, and to carefully assess and address any strategic weaknesses, vulnerabilities and high-risk dependencies which put at risk the attainment of its ambitions. For this reason, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Norway, Iceland and the United Kingdom. The eligibility of entities established in the United Kingdom to participate is conditional upon the following: (i) the United Kingdom is associated to Horizon Europe, and (ii) the United Kingdom’s equivalent space calls are published and open to the EU entities on a reciprocal basis.” Both conditions must be fulfilled on the date of the opening of this topic for submission.

For the duly justified and exceptional reasons listed in the paragraph above, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, entities established in an eligible country listed above, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, may not participate in the action unless it can be demonstrated, by means of guarantees provided by their eligible country of establishment, that their participation to the action would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic, assets, interests, autonomy, or security. The guarantees shall in particular substantiate that, for the purpose of the action, measures are in place to ensure that:

a) control over the applicant legal entity is not exercised in a manner that restrains or restricts its ability to carry out the action and to deliver results, that imposes restrictions concerning its infrastructure, facilities, assets, resources, intellectual property or know-how needed for the purpose of the action, or that undermines its capabilities and standards necessary to carry out the action;

b) access by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity to to sensitive information relating to the action is prevented; and the employees or other persons involved in the action have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate;

c) ownership of the intellectual property arising from, and the results of, the action remain within the recipient during and after completion of the action, are not subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or non-eligible country entity, and are not exported outside the eligible countries, nor is access to them from outside the eligible countries granted, without the approval of the eligible country in which the legal entity is established.

3. Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes

  • Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes

  • Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual

  • Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes

 

Specific conditions

7. Specific conditions: described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]

 

Documents

Call documents:

Standard application form — call-specific application form is available in the Submission System

Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)

Standard evaluation form — will be used with the necessary adaptations

Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)

MGA

HE General MGA v1.0

Lump Sum MGA v1.0

Call-specific instructions

Detailed budget table (HE LS)

Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"

 

Declaration of ownership and control

A compulsory questionnaire on the declaration of ownership and control is to be filled by all project participants as part of the application. All declarations must be assembled by the coordinator and uploaded in a single file in the portal submission system. For additional information on the assessment of ownership and control process and on the guarantees please consult the draft guidance for participation in restricted calls.

Frequently Asked Questions About Quantum Space Gravimetry Phase-a Study

STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN DEVELOPING, DEPLOYING AND USING GLOBAL SPACE-BASED INFRASTRUCTURES, SERVICES, APPLICATIONS AND DATA 2023 (2021 - 2027).
Per-award range: €4,000,000–€10,000,000. Total programme budget: €23,100,000. Expected awards: 4.
Deadline: March 28, 2023. Deadline model: single-stage.
This call is open to applicants in Europe.
Eligible organisation types (inferred): SMEs, Research organisations, Companies.
"> General conditions The page limit of the application is 75 pages. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System 2.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025).
You can contact the organisers at [email protected].

Support & Resources

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.  

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search Services help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.

 

Latest Updates

Last Changed: July 24, 2023

 An overview of the HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01 evaluation results (Flash Call Info) is now available under the link.

Last Changed: March 28, 2023

 

Call HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01 has closed on the 28/03/2023.

 

142 proposals have been submitted.

 

The breakdown per topic is:

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-11: 11 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-12: 38 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-13: 1 proposal

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-21: 1 proposal

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-22: 17 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-23: 4 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-31: 4 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-32: 5 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-33: 0 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-34: 3 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-62: 7 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-63: 1 proposal

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-71: 37 proposals

• HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-72: 13 proposals

 

Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in the 2nd half of July 2023.

 
Last Changed: December 23, 2022
The submission session is now available for: HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-63(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-33(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-32(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-34(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-62(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-72(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-31(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-71(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-23(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-21(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-22(HORIZON-RIA)
Last Changed: December 22, 2022
The submission session is now available for: HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-63(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-33(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-11(HORIZON-IA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-12(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-32(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-34(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-62(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-72(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-31(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-71(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-23(HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01-13(HORIZON-CSA)