New lease of life beckons for satellites
Will this solution extend the service life of in-orbit satellites? (Photo: Astroscale)
A US-owned Israeli firm is developing a logistical solution to avoid the problem of drift orbit.
Israeli company Effective Space has designed an auxiliary satellite to prolong the life of an operational satellite in low-earth or geostationary orbit by up to 15 years.
Tests of the new system are being conducted in cooperation with US company Astroscale, which acquired the intellectual property, assets, operations and engineering staff of Effective Space in 2020. This marked the first acquisition of an Israeli space company by a foreign firm.
Effective Space was established in 2013 by Arie Helzband to produce satellites in Israel that can be launched and attached to ‘veteran’ space platforms to provide fuel for their thrusters.
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