The main goal of this project is the development of an industrial “plug & play” system for additive layer manufacturing which is based on a blown powder process using Plasma Transferred Arc (PTA) Technology. The developed 4M System will offer: a) Simple equipment concept based on well established PTA technology for hard facing coatings b) Possibility to realize Multi-Material concepts c) Suitability of the technology to be used for a wide range of raw materials d) High deposition/building rates e) Possibility to realize large size components (up to 1,5 m x 1,5 m in the first version) Within the project the system will be developed to be used for wo different materials (Al and Ti-alloys) and to demonstrate one multi-material concept. The developed process will be used to realize three different demonstrators (case studies) and to perform testing of the manufactured prototypes under space relevant testing conditions.

HEATPACK project aims to develop and validate critical technology building blocks for enabling transformative packages for space applications with very low thermal resistance. This is to fully exploit the potential of wide-bandgap technologies which are now being considered as critical in numerous sectors and for space applications in particular, as enhanced thermal management solutions beyond state-of-the-art need to be provided. Benefits will range from improved performance to increased components reliability and lifetime. HEATPACK concepts for achieving high power / high thermal efficiency packages include: - Diamond based composite materials with a thermal conductivity >600W/m.K to be used as baseplate or insert - Silver sintering based Thermal Interface Material (TIM) for components assembly - TIM for package to structure assembly with both electrical and thermal enhanced properties (in excess of 10W/m.K) - Innovative cooling solutions with strategic implementation possibilities (baseplate, lid, structure…). Using these technologies, two different modules implementing Gallium Nitride (GaN) components will be developed: -A power supply switching module based on a multilayer ceramic substrate -A Ka-band High Power Amplifier based on a surface mount hermetic micro package. The main applications targeted are satellite’s output power section for telecommunication missions in particular, as well as power conditioning / power supply units concerning all satellite payload’s equipment consisting of high power supplies. To secure a fully European supply chain for high power components thermal management, the technologies developed will reach a TRL of 6, demonstrating commercial viable solutions providing reliability levels compliant with space environments.

SUPREME aims at optimizing powder metallurgy processes throughout the supply chain. It will focus on a combination of fast-growing industrial production routes and advanced ferrous and non-ferrous metals. By offering more integrated, flexible and sustainable processes for powders manufacturing and metallic parts fabrication, SUPREME enables the reduction of the raw material resources (minerals, metal powder, gas and water) losses while improving energy efficiency, production rate and CO2 emissions, into sustainable processes and towards a circular economy. To achieve this goal, an ambitious cross-sectorial integration and optimization has been designed between several powder metallurgy processes: gas and water atomization as well as ball milling for metal powder production, additive manufacturing and near-net shape technologies for end-parts fabrication. Quality and process control will be developed to monitor KPI, based on eco-innovation approach, to demonstrate the optimization of material and energy use. 4 demonstrators will be proposed at each step of the value chain in real industrial setting and ready for business exploitation at TRL 7: mineral concentration, metal powder manufacturing, metal part manufacturing and end-product that will validate a global optimization of more than 25% on material yield losses, more than 10% on energy efficiency, more than 10% on production rate and beyond 30% of CO2 emissions. SUPREME has gathered an outstanding consortium of 17 partners from 8 countries, represented by 11 companies including 6 SMEs that will ensure a successful implementation towards market applications. 5 applications sectors are targeted: automotive, aeronautics, cutting tools, molding tools and medical. The process key differentiation advantages will bring modularity, flexibility and sustainability to powder metallurgy and will reduce the total cost breakdown of these technologies, boosting their adoption by industry.

The limiting factor for the duration of space endeavours is often related to the total mass of propellant available on board. If a new propulsion device was capable of using the upper layers of the atmosphere as propellant, this would enable a vast spectrum of new planetary mission scenarios. In recent years SITAEL has produced the world’s first example of such a device, the “RAM-EP” engine. This innovative electric propulsion (EP) thruster was successfully tested in an environment representative of VLEO, achieving TRL4. The AETHER project will advance the thruster design towards a more flight representative stage, experimentally demonstrating sufficient and reliable net thrust production for the target applications. This will be achieved through the design optimization of the various thruster components, careful selection of materials and proper diagnostics tools, together with system-level design considerations. Successful completion of the AETHER project will advance the electric propulsion portfolio of Europe with the world-first EP air-breathing engine, potentially shifting the paradigm of VLEO, LEO and planetary missions.