Responses to RFI Questions _ 5.6.25.docx

Responses to RFI Questions

1. Beam/Band Allocation and Bandwidth:

· Question: Must all simultaneous beams be independently assignable to arbitrary bands/channels?

· Answer: Yes.

2. Spectral and Sidelobe Requirements:

· Question: What are the spectral mask requirements for transmit (Tx) emissions and receive (Rx) tolerance to interference?

· Answer: The system must be compliant with National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) requirements.

· Question: What are the Tx/Rx sidelobe mask requirements?

· Answer: Contractor is to adhere to highest industry standards.

· Question: What ACPR do you intend to have on the transmitter? (-15 dB, -20 dB, -25 dB, etc.) – This determines the backoff. Please share modulation waveforms (QPSK, 8PSK, 16QAM, etc.). Please share PAPR if OFDM or other waveforms.

· Answer: QPSK and BPSK are the expected modulation waveforms.

3. Antenna Design and Performance:

· Question: We would propose separate transmit and receive apertures. Is there an objective/threshold requirement for physical separation of transmit and receive apertures?

· Answer: The minimum requirement is less than 150 feet.

· Question: What EIRP per beam for Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3: (max, min)? How many beams at max EIRP, how many at mid-EIRP and how many at min-EIRP?

· Answer: All the beams must simultaneously be able to meet link margin requirements for a half ESPA class satellite conducting dynamic space operations at GEO.

· Question: For an AESA that is equivalent to a 1.5m parabolic dish, must a single beam or each of the 10 beams have the gain of a 1.5m dish? Is there a similar requirement for the 7.3m and 13.2m equivalent AESAs?

· Answer: All the beams must simultaneously be able to meet link margin requirements for a half ESPA class satellite conducting dynamic space operations at GEO.

· Question: Would you accept mechanical+electrical beam steering solutions?

· Answer: Mechanical implementations should be minimized; electronic beam steering solutions are preferred.

· Question: What is the desired scan range? (Full half hemispherical coverage or something less?)

· Answer: The desired scan range is GEO-belt +/- 8-degrees inclination.

· Question: Is the parabolic performance (G/T and EIRP) at max scan?

· Answer: Yes.

· Question: Are antenna metrics (e.g., cross-pol and sidelobes) expected to track parabolic reflector performance over the full scan range?

· Answer: Threshold is closing link margin for a half ESPA class conducting dynamic space operations at GEO for all beams across full scan range.

· Question: What are the transmit and receive polarization requirements for each of the frequency bands?

· Answer: Right-hand circular polarized and left-hand circular polarized.

5. Reliability and Environmental Requirements:

· Question: Reliability is minimum uptime of 99.9%, for greater than 10 years’ service life. Is MTBF an appropriate metric?

· Answer: Yes.

· Question: Is a fatigue analysis required?

· Answer: It is not required but respondent may include if they so choose.

· Question: The RFI calls out the need to meet MIL-STD-810H. Are there other expected drivers? Can they be met by best practices or analysis?

· Answer: The standards can be met with analysis.

6. Power and Cooling:

· Question: Will power be supplied? What voltage, phase, and frequency?

· Answer: Power will be provided at site. The system needs to be able to accommodate worldwide (i.e., both CONUS and OCONUS) power sources.

· Question: Are there any restrictions on liquid cooling and the required coolant?

· Answer: The liquid cooling needs to be able to accommodate different worldwide (i.e., both CONUS and OCONUS) environmental standards.

7. Testing and Verification:

· Question: Is there opportunity to show compliance to shock, vibration and extreme temperature exposure through analysis and informed testing of lower levels of assembly?

· Answer: Yes.

8. Security and TRANSEC:

· Question: What type(s) of physical, cyber, and data security features are desired?

· Answer: Zero-trust architecture.

9. Interfaces and Data:

· Question: Is GEO phased array for TT&C only? Or is large downlink capacity also required?

· Answer: Yes, the intended use case is TT&C.

· Question: Will there be a DIFI (digital IF interface) standard requirement?

· Answer: Yes.

· Question: Please define "latency".

· Answer: System network latency.

10. Deployment and Logistics:

· Question: Does this antenna have to operate on the move?

· Answer: No.

· Question: In terms of deployment requirements, the summary requirements suggest 24 hours teardown. How stringent is this requirement, especially for GEO solutions? Is there room for flexibility?

· Answer: This is a stringent requirement; there is no room for flexibility.

11. Operational Parameters:

· Question: Is the system expected to operate over the full listed frequency range (e.g., 4-8 GHz) or a subset of it?

· Answer: The system is expected to operate over the full listed frequency range.

· Question: Is full duplex (transmit and receive) operation required for each of the 3 frequency bands (L, S, and C)?

· Answer: Yes.

· Question: Will the target satellite be in GEO, Non-GEO, or all the above?

· Answer: Target satellites will operate in any orbital regime.