Independent access to space is a key component of the European Space Policy. The competition is increasing in this area both for the full launching systems and the key subsystems. Cost-effectiveness becomes the main driving factor. HYPROGEO ambition is to study a propulsion module based on Hybrid chemical propulsion. Hybrid propulsion is not a new technology but its application to a transfer module or to a re-ignitable upper stage is very innovative. It is an interesting alternative for the GEO transfer, between the chemical propulsion (bi-liquid) and the new trend of Electrical Propulsion (EP). There are very good synergies and complementarities with the other propulsion activities. The proof of concept (specific impulse, thrust) has been demonstrated. The main technical challenge is the long duration firings. The future development of an operational system, already identified in the current roadmaps, requires advanced R&D work on 4 critical technologies: - Combustion chamber. - High endurance nozzle. - Catalytic injector. - Production, storage and use of high concentration hydrogen peroxide. These R&D activities structure 4 main work packages. A system study ensures the global vision in coherence with an economic analysis, the identification of technical challenges and the consolidation of scientific results. A last work package performs the dissemination of results. An innovative aspect is the fact that the R&D activities are directly driven by the ecvolution of market needs and system requirements. Main expected benefits are: - Green and simpler design (compared to bi-liquid). - Shorter transfer time and reduced cost of operations (compared to EP) A TRL 3-4 level is expected at the end of the project. The impact of the project is secured by the composition of the consortium led by Astrium with the main European actors of the hybrid: it contributes to the consolidation of the European industrial supply chain for Hybrid propulsion. Project duration is 36 months.

This proposal introduces a pioneering new on-orbit services system concept which would rapidly industrialize the European space ecosystem, making Europe a world leader in robotized and sustainable modular infrastructures as well as reusable launchers, with additional competitive benefits for a sustainable European digital industry and sovereign cloud autonomy. European space technology has now reached a level of maturity that makes possible a revolutionary – yet feasible – endeavour: the installation of internet data centres in orbit, in order to reduce the exponential impact of digital technology on energy consumption and on climate warming. The installation of large modular space infrastructures with robotic assembly, megawatt level space-based solar power, high throughput optical communications, low cost and reusable launchers, is now within the European space industry’s capability. The goal of the proposed study is to demonstrate that placing future data centre capacity in orbit, using solar energy outside the earth’s atmosphere, will substantially lower the carbon footprint of digitalization. Space data centres could therefore become an active contributor to the EC Green Deal objective of carbon neutrality by 2050, which would justify the investment required to develop and install such a large space infrastructure system. It would also strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty and autonomy, for a sustainable and prosperous digital future. Given the ambition and huge potential impact of this project, which would become a major European flagship program, a broad system-level feasibility and business study is necessary. For that purpose, the ASCEND consortium has brought together major players in the fields of environment analysis (Carbone 4, Vito), data centres architecture, hardware and software (Orange, CloudFerro, HPE), space systems development (Thales Alenia Space, Airbus, DLR), and access to space (ArianeGroup).

The objective of this proposal is to investigate the necessary demonstration activities in order to mature technologies for nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) systems that is considered one of the key enabler to allow deep exploration and science missions both manned and unmanned. The DEMOCRITOS projects aims to define three Demonstrator Concepts in regards to NEP technologies: 1. Detailed preliminary designs of ground experiments that will allow maturing the necessary technologies in the field of MW level nuclear electric propulsion. The project will investigate the interaction of the major subsystems (thermal, power management, propulsion, structures and conversion) with each other and a (simulated) nuclear core providing high power, in the order of several hundred kilowatts. 2. Nuclear reactor cost studies and simulations to provide feedback to the simulated nuclear core of DEMOCRITOS ground experiments as well as conceptualize the concept of nuclear space reactor and outline the specifications for a Core Demonstrator, including an analysis of the regulatory and safety framework that will be necessary for such a demonstration to take place on the ground. 3. System architecture and robotic studies that will investigate in detail the overall design of a high power nuclear spacecraft, together with a pragmatic strategy for assembly in orbit of such a large structure coupled with a nuclear reactor. Additionally, the project partners will define a programmatic plan, insuring that the demonstrators can be built, tested, and reach the established ambitious objectives, this with a clear organization between international partners and with costs shared in a sustainable way. DEMOCRITOS aims to form a cluster around NEP related technologies by organizing an international workshop and invite external stakeholders to propose ideas for the ground and flight demonstrators or possibly join in the effort to realize the ground demonstrator experiments.

Oxide fibre reinforced ceramics, so-called oxide ceramic matrix composites (O-CMC) have to be considered as strategic materials from now to the future, e.g. for use in next generation aero-engines, stationary gas turbines, power-to-X processes with concentrated solar power CSP, chemical industry, batch carrier for high temperature processes, etc. Today such high-end O-CMC components and the key raw material, the ceramic fibres as reinforcement component, are mainly exclusively produced in the United States. But as these are key components for the European manufacturing, energy and aerospace industry, there is a need to develop a European oxide fibre and O-CMC component industry, decreasing dependence on non-EU producers. The InVECOF project addresses this need and provides a substantial contribution to sustainable product innovation action through the two following key activities: 1. to develop a European oxide ceramic reinforcing fibre equivalent to US fibres and to establish it among end users (ROF fibre) and 2. to develop and validate a next-generation fibre in parallel with improved thermos-mechanical properties (NGO fibre). The ROF fibre will present an equivalent to the dominant 3M Nextel fibres with better availability, without dual-use restrictions from the US and possibly lower price is needed and the NGO fibre will have improved thermo-mechanical properties compared to the benchmark fibres in order to make processes, plants, turbines, etc. more energy efficient through higher application temperatures. The project InVECOF Innovative Value Chains for European Ceramic Oxide Fibres covers the whole process chain beginning from fibre development and production over weaving these fibres to fabrics to O-CMC manufacturing, coupons and demonstrators for every end-user application, up to testing Ox-fibers and O-CMC components in relevant environments with project partners for every step from three countries in Europe.

The main goal of Rising STARS is to enable a parallel programming framework for the development and execution of advanced large-scale Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) with High Performance Computing (HPC) and real-time requirements. Overall, there is an urgent necessity to develop run-time parallel frameworks, compatible with HPC, capable of guaranteeing that decisions made at run-time maintains the guarantees about system correctness and timing behavior. These new run-time capabilities however, cannot preclude the ability of run-times to dynamically adapt the execution to new working conditions or changing modes of operation of CPS to maximise the utilisation and performance capabilities of parallel heterogeneous architectures. A key element of the Rising STARS framework will be the incorporation of a unified, efficient and highly configurable data acquisition strategy fully integrated in the parallel programming models with the objective of improving productivity in CPS software development. Exposing the data-acquisition to the programmer (by including it into the parallel programming model) is also key to overlap data-transfers with computation. Another objective of the project is to add this capability in existing programming models for HPC and to investigate new parallel programming extensions to allow developers to define the real-time properties of the system in terms of periodicity and timing constraints. Finally, one of our main objectives is to implement several demonstration platforms to promote the main technological developments of this R&I action and their performance under realistic conditions, including Adaptive Optics for giant telescopes and SSA experiments, data processsing for SKA, and critical real-time embedded systems.