Details of the project's progress were presented at the annual meeting of the Israeli Association for Small Satellites, held as part of the Fisher Institute's Space Week events
The Israeli nanosatellite ISAT will be launched at the end of 2008 into a sun-synchronized orbit at an altitude of 635 kilometers using an Indian PSLV launcher. This is according to data provided at the second meeting of the Israeli Association for Small Satellites held as part of the Fisher Institute's third space conference, which took place last week at the Air Force Base in Herzliya.
Midd Farinta, the association's spokesman and the engineer of the Amos 3 satellite system in Tel Aviv, explains that three Israeli components will be embedded in the satellite - GPS by Rokar, an atomic clock by Accubit and a flight computer called Leon 3, by the Ramon Chips company. "The project is progressing according to the plan, even though all the members of the association are very busy with the other satellites of the Israeli space industry." At this stage all the systems of the satellite have been designed, some have already arrived at the assembly facility in the aerospace industry and others are on their way there.
Raz Tamir, CEO of the Israeli Association for Small Satellites, presented the association and the two educational projects it operates as part of preparing the satellite for launch at the Ort School in Ma'ale Adumim, planning the satellite's control algorithms, and at the Herzliya Technology Center, in collaboration with the School of Engineering, high school students are planning the ground station for control and control of the satellite.
According to him, the association is looking for more students who would like to participate in the project, teachers to help them and more members of the association from the whole public. "The best learning is unintentional and that's what happens when you teach students while doing a real project. In addition, aerospace studies are now recognized as part of the curriculum that even earns points for matriculation."
And Farinta adds: in order to overcome the problem that components at the beginning of their journey are not always perfect, and therefore it is not worthwhile to use them in space missions, it is advisable to test these components on nano-satellites. The design of the satellite will be done once and will be used by all nanosatellites that will be built in the future. The infrastructure is based on components off the shelf (COTS), the ground station is based on many years of experience of radio amateurs. As far as the satellite infrastructure is concerned, we do not take any summary of technological development. We build on existing interfaces. All the wisdom will be in the ground station. The satellite will be as simple as possible and will not need a command. It will also be autonomous, broadcasting all the time.
According to Farinta, one of the setbacks in the project was the need to transfer it to experiments at the site of the company that developed the nanosatellites in California (at Cal-Poly University), however, bringing a satellite into the US and taking it out from there could involve bureaucratic complications. Therefore, the association requested permission from the company to carry out the tests at the aviation industry facilities, which anyway stand deserted most of the time. It turns out that we are dealing with a problem that the Europeans also suffer from, and it is possible that we have opened a new export branch - performing vibration tests and space conditions for the tiny satellites that are being developed by similar organizations in Europe. In this way, the Mbat Space facility will be able to serve as the official test site for nano satellites from all over Europe.
550 satellites per decade
Jay Galish, analyst at Futureron, a financial company that reviews and evaluates the space industry in the world. He talked about how the nanosatellite industry needs to get out of the garage. "The new technology of tiny satellites changes the entire cost structure of space and makes it possible to create ideas in the garage. When entrepreneurs think of an idea they can go to the garage, build it and try it. The idea is to take it out of an idea and create something new.
Israel has a competitive space industry environment. Our company deals in the engineering field, advises NASA, and companies such as Lockheed Martin. They ask us unique questions, and among other things they asked us to investigate the subject of nano satellites. When I arrived in Israel and started talking to people at INSA and I see that they are happy to help. One thing - where there is an overlap between new ideas and innovation - the small satellite market. We know the area around. "
"Governments and industries are beginning to appreciate the emerging market. There is a competition between the need to reduce the size of the satellites on the one hand and increasing their functionality on the other. Thanks to the success of the British SSTL company in collaboration with the University of Surrey, we see that there is room for small satellites. This field is a developing field, there is activity in it, a lot of R&D, people ask us if there is demand, if it is worth investing. It turns out that there are two motives for the next development in the field - the desire to launch satellite constellations and the development on the way - satellite bands. The success of the second generation constellations and the success of the band satellites will increase the market size of the small satellites.
According to him, in the field of small satellites, the United States, which usually leads in every technological field, is lagging behind, and the leaders are Britain, Canada, other European countries, and of course Israel (the reference is not necessarily to nano satellites, and from this test almost all Israeli satellites except Amos satellites are considered small satellites according to the definition of Galician).
Later, Galish surveyed forecast launches for small satellites all over the world from nano satellites of 25 kg to 500 kg. Currently, we are at one stage or another of planning the launch of about 550 satellites. This is therefore a real market. Access to space has always been expensive and therefore was in government hands. Now it is already a commercial field, and if the price is right, small satellites will be technologically destructive (that is, they will disrupt the market for the big satellite operators), and will also allow small companies and small countries to enter space.
Daniel Rockberger, another member of the association, presented another aspect of the association's activities - it also serves as an admissions committee for the International Space University, which runs a summer course in a different place in the world every year, as well as a master's degree program in Strasbourg. This is not training for engineers, but for anyone who wants to work in space and understand the whole picture involved in a space project.
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3 תגובות
Well, well, I read a lot about the subject... except that I haven't been a schoolgirl for a long time. But I have the material. Nanotechnology has many applications. It's a shame that everyone is afraid of technology and prefers mysticism and reality shows.
Basically, without nano technology, it will be very difficult for us to deal with antibiotic-resistant bacteria... with a sophisticated virus like the AIDS virus... basically, medicines will reach their destination without side effects, even in the brain. Sound science fiction? not really no. You just have to think carefully and invest. Beyond that, space is the last frontier. Tiny satellites can fly very fast and provide information even from dangerous places. To provide good intelligence on the enemy militarily... to neutralize Qassam in flight... want more ideas???
Rachel
Cool and for the students it's a really, really special experience.
wow What a beauty.