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THALES ALENIA SPACE TO DEVELOP COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM FOR INTERNATIONAL MARS ICE MAPPER MISSION
The company will develop an innovative antenna for deep space to connect fixed or mobile infrastructure on Mars with Earth, capable of transmitting acquired radar images and science data.
©NASA
Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with the Italian space agency (ASI) to develop the communications subsystem for the innovative International Mars Ice Mapper (I-MIM) mission. This Phase B1 contract, worth a total amount of about €22 million, follows on from the previous Phase A award to Thales Alenia Space in 2021, successfully completed in 2022.
I-MIM is a mission in partnership with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA to develop a Mars orbiter, with the goal of identifying and measuring the extent and volume of water ice in the mid- and low-latitude regions of Mars, where it is possible to plan the first potential human surface missions to Mars.
Thales Alenia Space will be responsible for the mission’s multi-user communications system and will also develop the innovative Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) antenna enabling the orbiter to establish high-data-rate communications with ground stations in both Ka- and X-band. The same antenna will serve the SAR instrument operating in L-band. Thales Alenia Space will build a six-meter-aperture demonstration model of the LDR at the end of the two-year phase. A study of a complementary payload, based on a new VHF sounding radar to measure the depth of the ice profile to support and complement the SAR data, is also foreseen.
Thales Alenia Space has long-standing expertise in the design, assembly, testing, and integration of large antennas for deep-space exploration missions such as Cassini-Huygens, which explored Saturn and its moon Titan, and BepiColombo, currently on its way to Mercury.
Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with the Italian space agency (ASI) to develop the communications subsystem for the innovative International Mars Ice Mapper (I-MIM) mission. This Phase B1 contract, worth a total amount of about €22 million, follows on from the previous Phase A award to Thales Alenia Space in 2021, successfully completed in 2022.
I-MIM is a mission in partnership with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA to develop a Mars orbiter, with the goal of identifying and measuring the extent and volume of water ice in the mid- and low-latitude regions of Mars, where it is possible to plan the first potential human surface missions to Mars.
Thales Alenia Space will be responsible for the mission’s multi-user communications system and will also develop the innovative Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) antenna enabling the orbiter to establish high-data-rate communications with ground stations in both Ka- and X-band. The same antenna will serve the SAR instrument operating in L-band. Thales Alenia Space will build a six-meter-aperture demonstration model of the LDR at the end of the two-year phase. A study of a complementary payload, based on a new VHF sounding radar to measure the depth of the ice profile to support and complement the SAR data, is also foreseen.
Thales Alenia Space has long-standing expertise in the design, assembly, testing, and integration of large antennas for deep-space exploration missions such as Cassini-Huygens, which explored Saturn and its moon Titan, and BepiColombo, currently on its way to Mercury.
www.thalesaleniaspace.com
