Space Critical Equipment and Related Technologies for EU non-dependence – Chip Scale Atomic Clocks and Solar Cells

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Reinforcing EU strategic autonomy by reducing non-EU dependencies on critical space equipment and related technologies across their entire supply chain;
• Providing unrestricted access to critical space equipment and related technologies relevant for EU space missions;
• Developing or regaining capacity to operate independently in space by developing resilient critical space equipment and related technologies supply chains, relying on EU supply chains and/or trustable and reliable supply chains not affected by non-EU export restrictions;
• Enhancing competitiveness by developing products and capabilities reaching equivalent or superior performance level than those from outside the EU and compete at worldwide level;
• Opening new opportunities for manufacturers by reducing dependency on non-EU export restricted technologies.

Unrestricted access to state-of-art space equipment and related technologies is a pre-requisite for the EU space industry responding to EU space missions. However, especially for some families of equipment, the available solutions in EU do not meet the current high-performance space requirements and alternative products, sourced from outside EU, are either affected by non-EU export control with extra territorial applicability, that limit the access, re-export or raise challenges in terms of trustable supply chains for the implementation of EU space missions with a security dimension.

Within the frame of this topic it is expected to finance and implement development projects aiming at maturing critical space equipment with the final goal of lowering the dependency from outside EU, establish a long-term sustainable supply chain and support EU strategic autonomy in the space sector. The selection of the supply chains shall reflect this objective. Therefore, the supply chain shall preferably be built fully based in EU and when this can only be achieved partially (i.e. because of lack of current EU capabilities that cannot be developed within the project), services procured from outside EU shall nevertheless ensure that the overall supply chain will remain trustable and not affected by non-EU export control. The latest scenario is subject to the approval of the granting authority.

Below, the list of space equipment and related technologies relevant for this Call. It has been identified based on needs related to strategic institutional programs, inputs from relevant European stakeholders and the EU Observatory of Critical Technologies.

• Chip Scale Atomic Clocks [Target final TRL 6]
• Solar Cells [Target final TRL 5-6]

Additional, context information and technical requirements are provided in the Technical Requirements Guidance document published on the Funding & Tenders Portal outlining all relevant information for each of the above-mentioned development lines.

A proposal should address only one technology area and clearly identify the area being addressed.

Space is a low volume market affected by a dynamic industrial landscape compared to the terrestrial market therefore, technological spin in and/or bilateral collaborations should be enhanced between European non-space and space industries. Furthermore, proposed activities should be complementary to relevant national and/or other activities at European level. Complementary activities should be clearly identified, described and the proposal should report how the complementarity is ensured.

To achieve the non-dependence objective, applicants must include a dedicated proposal’s paragraph covering:

• The description of the technology and high-level breakdown of the space equipment supply chain to be used. Applicants should demonstrate that the supply chain and final product are free of any legal export restrictions or limitations, such as those established in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or equivalent instruments applicable in other non-EU jurisdictions. Applicants shall also report, in a dedicated subsection, if and which part of the supply chain is affected by non-EU export controls such as the Export Administration regulation (EAR).
• The description of the suitable technology development process that has been identified and set up within the consortium for avoiding export restrictions of non-EU states and assess vulnerabilities of the supply chain.

Proposal covering space equipment and related technology developments that are targeting a final TRL equal or higher than 5, shall include a list of proposed applicable standards (e.g. ECSS, ESCC, MIL, JEDEC, …) that are considered relevant for implementing a formal space evaluation and/or qualification.

The proposal must include specific tasks as part of the work plan and related dedicated confidential deliverables to be provided within 6 months from the start of the project to the relevant Commission DG and Executive Agency (i.e. DG-DEFIS and HaDEA), with the objective of:

1. Analysing and describing, in detail, the full supply chain, each entity and its role in the supply chain, level of criticality and, if relevant, identify dependencies from outside EU;
2. Describe the industrial technical roadmap and a business plan for commercialization with accurate understanding of applications needs, space mission insertion, including time to market indication, of the developed product.
3. Reporting the list of relevant non-EU export control with extra territorial applicability for the specific technology/product under development, independently from the supply chain established for the EU-COM project.
4. Undertaking a comprehensive literature review of the relevant technology/product reporting the state-of-the-art and highlighting potential gaps between current EU solutions and competition from outside EU.

Unless otherwise agreed with the granting authority before the grant agreement is signed, beneficiaries must ensure that none of the entities that participate as affiliated entities, associated partners or subcontractors are established in countries which are not eligible countries or target countries set out in the call conditions.

It is recalled to the applicants that all provisions reported by the Model Grant Agreements, related to topics with restricted eligibility conditions, are applied. Under this light, for example the consortiums shall ensure that for a period up to 4 years after the end of the action, supply and availability of the products and/or processes developed and/or qualified within the project (consortium as whole or individual beneficiaries) shall be given to any entity in EU, at fair and reasonable market prices, conditions and with no legal restrictions and limitations stemming for example from International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), or equivalent instruments applicable in non-EU jurisdictions. Additionally, beneficiaries that intend to transfer ownership or grant an exclusive licence must formally notify the granting authority before the intended transfer or licensing takes place and the granting authority may up to four years after the end of the action object to a transfer of ownership or the exclusive licensing of results.

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