Deadline: 16-Sep-2025
The European Commission is accepting proposals for its ISOS Pilot Mission Detailed Design – Servicing component.
The strategic objective of this topic is to develop capabilities to ‘Act in Space’ through demonstrating in space a pilot mission by 2030 related to ISOS. The envisaged ISOS pilot mission shall provide the necessary seed components for a future service infrastructure, available to the European in-space ecosystem (including the EU assets), driving the generation of a new in-space economy, providing enhanced in-orbit technology demonstration and maximizing EU technology non-dependence.
This topic addresses the finalization of the detailed design of the servicing component of the ISOS pilot mission, that should feature robotic capabilities. The servicing component will be based on previous and ongoing R&I developments and could provide services such as inspection, upgrade, repair, life extension including refueling, delivery and exchange of payload, reconfiguration, relocation, capture and removal of assets in space.
Scope
- To tackle the above expected outcomes, the following R&I actions should be addressed, taking into account the provided technical annex:
- R&I to complete detailed mission and system design (including relevant key technology maturation) for the servicing component as part of the ISOS pilot mission. More specifically, projects should finalise the detailed design for this component building on current or previous developments, demonstrating the achievement of the required TRL for all relevant technologies;
- Contribution to the overall ISOS pilot mission detail design in close cooperation with the other mission components (including other servicing components), the ISOS Pilot Mission Coordination and Support Action and the ISOS Pilot Mission Advisory Group;
- R&I on related service capabilities and applications including operational concepts for servicing individual or fleets of satellites based on the functionality of the pilot mission system design. More specifically, possible use case for servicing a real EU asset is expected to be developed up to delivery of a concept of operations (CONOPS).
Funding Information
- Budget (EUR): 18 000 000
- Contributions: 6000000 to 12000000
Expected Outcomes
- Project results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes:
- A sustainable, highly automated and digitalized, flexible and economically viable space infrastructure, building on technologies and concepts for a circular economy in space, e.g. plug-and-play spacecraft functionality introducing recycling/re-use of spacecraft modules/functionalities;
- ISOS Pilot mission preparation up to detailed mission and system design for the servicing component and maturation of enabling technologies and innovative system and operational concepts;
- Elaboration of interfaces between the different components of the mission, together with the other mission components (i.e. HOST, logistics and Stapps) and the ISOS Pilot Mission Coordination and Support Action (CSA);
- Contribution to the ISOS Pilot Mission Objectives provided in the technical annex163;
- Elaboration of clear use cases and relevant business models focusing on governmental and/or commercial needs;
- Ensuring the availability of results to the next mission phases.
Eligibility Criteria
- Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from no associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.
- A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
- Entities eligible for funding:
- To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
- Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
- Countries associated to Horizon Europe;
- Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
- To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
For more information, visit EC.