Exclusive to the Hedaan website: two exposures at the conference of the Israeli Association for Small Satellites

Two nano-satellites are being built at the TAA's Mabat plant that will demonstrate Israeli space technologies * First exposure to the Ramon Chips company that manufactures computers for satellites

Prof. Ran Gnoser from the Technion

There were two interesting revelations yesterday at the conference of the Israeli Association for Small Satellites that took place at the Air Force Base in Herzliya, in cooperation with Bat Halal, the Fisher Institute for Strategic Air and Space Research, Aquibit and the Israel Space Association.
For the first time it was revealed that the association will launch in 2008 from Russia at least one of the two nano-satellites currently being assembled at a subsidiary of the Aerospace Industry. These are tiny satellites measuring 10 x 10 x 30 centimeters from the CubeSat model manufactured by the American company Pumpkins. These satellites arrive equipped with a command computer and a system integration kit, when the customer, i.e. the association in our case, adds the satellites to it. According to Dodi Zusiman, one of the founders of the association for small satellites, he said at the conference that the satellites are now in the process of being integrated for launch on the Dnieper launcher from Russia at the end of 2008. The mission of the satellites will be to prove components for space, various organizations will assemble commercial components on the satellites and test their ability to work in the space environment.
The satellites are owned by the Association for Small Satellites in Israel (INSA), and they will integrate components including a tiny GPS from the Rokar company, a precise atomic clock from the Acubit company, and a mission computer developed by the Ramon Chips company. All the companies are Israeli, and the components are blue and white. In addition, the solar collectors are built at MLM in the aviation industry. The directional control components and the electrical system are developed abroad.
The second exposure is that of the Ramon Chips company whose manager, Prof. Ran Ginosar from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technion says that the Ramon Chips company, named after the late Ilan Ramon, is an Israeli company (operating in Haifa), which was established to supply chips Radiation shields for satellites. Radiation shields in Israel. We are designing the chips, and the entire production is done in Migdal HaEmek. Since then, we have produced one component that will be integrated into the satellite in the coming days Projects at the same time. In some cases, these are other components, not necessarily a computer - for example, an image compression chip for the photography satellites, and in addition, we have developed In cooperation with a Swedish company, a computer that can be used as both a satellite main computer and a satellite control computer. We recently completed the production of its first version, which was tested and works well. The computer is based on the processor architecture of the Sun company, and is used as a standard computer in satellites the Europeans, and we hope that the aerospace industry and other satellite manufacturers will also adopt it as the standard computer."
What is your added value, if it is a standard processor?
Prof. Ginosar: "The processor is standard, but it is a System on a chip that includes several special I/O devices for space beyond the basic computer, for example a BUS called 1553 intended for an aviation computer. Another BUS called CAN and special communication channels for space called SPACE WIRE, devices which are not required in terrestrial systems, but in satellites they are important and greatly facilitate communications and satellite management.
All the chips we produce are resistant to radiation in space at any height and have very high reliability and are resistant to temperature changes, vibrations and more. Because these components are built according to the highest standards of reliability and therefore they are also suitable for military products and it is possible that in the future they will also be used for military products.
One of our goals is to be able to produce the products at cheap prices. It is not a problem to get reliable components today, the only question is the price and we are trying to enable customers to get them at cheaper prices, and with a greater development speed."
According to Ginosar, Ramon is a completely private company and has never raised external resources. It finances itself with the costs of the projects it wins. In this sense, it is an engineering center that provides engineering projects.
In any case, we did not turn to mass production, so we are not suitable for raising investment."
And how do you participate in the nanosatellite project?
"We offer, among other things, a computer for a nano-satellite. Today, the nano-satellite that the association purchased has a Texas Instrument computer that is actually a small controller, which in our humble opinion is too weak and not intended for work in space. As long as it is about experiments that can also fail, it is fine, but if you want to build hundreds of missions Nano satellites that will have to last in space for years. Therefore, we offer the computer to anyone who wants to develop a nano satellite in Israel. As for the satellites that are being built now, we have donated a computer For a Technion student project that will build a nano satellite card, the purpose of the card will be to show that our computer can be used in a nano satellite. In addition, anyone who wants to build a card for any satellite tasks, for example, we will provide them with a computer Free, open and on the Internet, there is no problem using our computers as they are. We are always happy to help students develop a satellite, especially if accompanied To which someone's contribution to the launch helps the Israeli economy a lot, because it helps develop capacity."

Midd Farinta, spokesperson for the association and an engineer for the Amos 3 satellite system in Tel-Aviv, explains: "The association was established to push the field of nanosatellites in general and education about space issues in particular through practical projects. The beginning of the association's work was in 2004 and in 2006 it was officially established. The goal of the project at launch - proving components for space that will allow their future use for space projects of the State of Israel. This is the possibility of a technological breakthrough that will provide an answer to the gap created between the field of space in general and the technological developments of recent years. The whole subject of wireless communication, fast processors, security cameras, and MEMS components (tiny components made with fine mechanics that replace normal components such as gyroscopes, accelerometers). All the technological development of the last twenty years stopped and did not reach space. The project that Lun will break the glass ceiling and allow testing and proof of modern technologies for space systems, will bring space into the 21st century.
The State of Israel is the most ideal country for the development of nano-satellites that require creative thinking, high capabilities and everything that the country has managed to lead in the field of ground applications, we have the capabilities to take them into space and make the country a leader in the field."