The launch is planned for this Friday, July 5, at 08:42 (Israel time), from Vostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia. The company's technology improves and cheapens the performance of space satellites and enables faster, cheaper and more efficient broadband satellite communication
At the end of 4 years of hard work, the vision is realized; The Israeli nanosatellite company, NSLComm, operating in the New Space field, will launch the communication satellite NSLSat-1 into space. It will be the company's first satellite launched into space, by a Soyuz launcher.
From the moment of launch, NSLComm will become the first private Israeli company to send a communications satellite into low space orbit (LEO). The launch is scheduled for July 5, at 8:42 (Israel time) from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia. Two hours from the moment of launch, the launcher will release NSLSat-1 into its orbit in space, where it will remain for the next 5 years, circling the Earth at a speed of 8 km per second, completing 16 revolutions a day.
NSLComm, established in 2015, changes the paradigm of satellite communication and enables a dramatic reduction of up to 10 times in communication costs by deploying a large antenna from the satellite in space. The company's management includes Dr. Raz Itzhaki, Daniel Rockberger, Yizhar Marinov and Daniel Ben Dov. All of them have background and experience in the field from their previous positions in the aerospace industry, Gilat Satellite Networks and Elbit. The founders bring with them over 50 years of experience in the space industry.
NSLComm is one of the few Israeli companies operating in one of the most innovative fields: the "New-Space" industry. This is a groundbreaking industry on any scale, in which individual countries in the world take a significant part, Israel among them. NSLComm's technological breakthrough lies in the satellite communication system developed by the company, based on a deployable antenna. This is an antenna made of a unique polymer SMP - Shape Memory Polymer - which is deployed in space and enables broadband communication for small satellites.
The NSLComm satellite enables data transmission at a rate 100 times higher than satellites of the same size, which lack the NSLComm deployable antenna. In addition, the nanosatellites for NSLComm are able to provide a data transfer rate of over 1 gigabit per second over any point on Earth, compared to 20 megabits per second in satellites of the same size, without NSL's technology.
The communication system includes a flexible reflector, which knows how to change the shape and shape the ground beam of the satellite, thus enabling a high level of accuracy required for fast communication. NSLComm's unique technology allows a single launcher to launch dozens of space-launched nanosatellites at the same time, leading to significant cost reductions.
NSLComm's technology enables fast and continuous communication for a wide variety of uses: the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors in agriculture, mining, oil and gas industries, maritime shipping, military industries, aircraft communications, government and more. In addition to supporting data transfer for internet, video and cloud, at significantly lower costs than what satellite communication technologies offer today.
In the first phase, the company targets the defense industries, the Internet of Things and the automotive industries - a market estimated at approximately 50 billion dollars a year. A few weeks ago, NSLComm announced a collaboration with Amazon's network services AWS - (Amazon Web Services) Amazon's network of ground stations for satellites.
"The launch of NSLSat-1 is a significant achievement for our company and for the entire satellite industry," said Raz Itzhaki, co-founder and CEO of NSLComm. "Our technology brings to light the dramatic growth that characterizes the Israeli space industry through a satellite antenna whose performance is a breakthrough on any scale; It enables broadband satellite communication that is faster, cheaper and much more efficient than it was until today."
The company has raised 16 million dollars to date. The company's first investors include the venture capital fund JVP and Liberty - the largest cable and satellite company in the world through Liberty Technology Venture Capital. The other investors in the company are: , OurCrowd Cockpit Innovation and GF Hawk. The company also received support from the Israel Space Agency and Kodem Growth Partners in New York.
"The JVP Foundation is proud to support ground-breaking entrepreneurs and position Israeli technology at the forefront of the world stage," said Yoav Tsaroya, general partner at JVP. "NSLComm is changing the rules of the game of the satellite communication market significantly through a dramatic improvement in bandwidth and bandwidth transmission. This enables an infinite number of new applications for a variety of markets and for the industries that lead the global economy."
"The Israel Space Agency in the Ministry of Science and Technology supports innovative start-up companies with leading technologies that allow them to increase their competitive capabilities and expand Israel's ecosystem in space," said Avi Blasberger, director of the Israel Space Agency. NSLComm plans to launch 30 satellites by 2021 and hundreds by 2023, which will enable its network of tiny satellites to provide high-speed global communications to its customers using a group of satellites orbiting the Earth.
"Space is indeed the new frontier for venture capital funds, and NSLComm is leading the way to target tiny satellites that are smarter, more flexible and more powerful than ever before," said Emerjon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd. "This company will communicate between communities from all over the world in places that were not connected to high-speed internet until today and things will never be the same again."
"Kodem Growth Partners is proud to collaborate with NSLComm and support its expansion into the US and European markets, where we see a variety of business opportunities for the company," said Avi Lindenbaum, founder of Kodem Growth Partners LLC. "The NSLComm company enjoys a unique positioning that allows it to develop a wide range of new solutions using very small satellites that are not expensive for customers in the commercial and government sectors."
