NSLCOMM will launch a revolutionary mini-satellite this week
July 3, 2019
The company from Lod has developed a collapsible antenna that allows for a 10-fold reduction in the size and price of communications satellites. The program: Build an array of more than 100 tiny communication satellites
This Friday at 14:42 Israel time, it will be launched into a small and revolutionary communications satellite that was developed in Israel by the company NSLCOMM from the airport in Lod in recent years. The satellite is already on the Russian Soyuz rocket in the new Russian cosmodrome, Westcany, in eastern Russia. The Israeli satellite will be launched as a cargo with 27 other small satellites, along with the main cargo of the launcher, the new Russian weather satellite Meteor-M.
The Israeli satellite, NSLSat-1, will be launched into a five-year-long synchronous orbit with a radius of 580 km, and the modest launch will contain a new technology that could change the face of the satellite communications industry. Of a lightweight and collapsible communication antenna that is deployed in space after launch and provides satellites with performance comparable to those of a large, heavy antenna.
The goal is to deploy 120-150 tiny satellites in a medium-altitude orbit and provide broadband communications services worldwide, at a fraction of the cost of the services currently provided by geosynchronous communications satellites, which are very large satellites at a height of 36,000 km.
Technology has changed the business model
NSLCOMM was established about four years ago and is managed by Raz Yitzhaki, Daniel Rockberger, Daniel Ben Dov and Yizhar Marinov. Yitzhaki founded the Nano-Satellite Division at IAI and was responsible for 7 development plans. Chief Engineer Rockberger served for many years as a satellite engineer at IAI. He designed five nano-satellites and was deputy project manager for the French-Israeli satellite program Venus. Development Director Marinov was formerly the development manager at Gilat, and business development manager Ben Dov was formerly the head of a division at Elbit and Gilat.
At first, the plan was to produce the antenna and sell it to satellite companies, but it soon became apparent that the change in the antenna produced a significant change in the satellite structure and business model, which led to a change in strategy: satellite infrastructure and communication services. Yitzhaki explained to Techtime why the decision was made. Yitzhaki: "Today, most of the satellite's structure is designed to support an antenna, of which about 90 percent is required only during the launch." When we deploy a collapsible antenna in space, we can reduce the weight of the satellite by about 90 percent.
"In standard antenna technology, a satellite of 150-200 kg is needed to bring a 60-cm antenna space, and our technology can mount such an antenna using a satellite weighing only 10-15 kilograms. Our satellite is built from six units of the Qubasat platform (6U). This difference affects the cost of production and the cost of the launch, because the power of the launcher to raise a 200-kilogram satellite into orbit allows us to launch 10 satellites, so our launch cost is about a tenth of that of LEO standard satellites. "
In September, the demonstrations began for customers
In the first two weeks following the launching, tests will be conducted of the systems' proper functioning and the satellite's stability in the orbit. The antenna will then be deployed and tested. This is a folding antenna based on the use of a memory material that is used as the antenna arm, on which a special material is attached, which serves as the absorption and transmission element. When the antenna is released, it is deployed in space to a classical transmission and reception antenna.
After deployment, the antenna is focused on a subreflector with a flexible reflective surface and 10 motors that distort its shape according to the patented algorithm, which compensates for errors in the deployment of the flexible antenna and provides a hard level of performance. At this stage, its configuration will also be tested by shooting by two cameras that will transmit the location of optical points across the antenna, which will allow to accurately reconstruct its structure.
According to Yitzhaki, the company plans to start conducting demonstrations for potential customers as early as September. "We will demonstrate to them the ability to transmit broadcasts at a rate greater than 1 Gbps, and we are currently in contact with a large car manufacturer interested in IoT connectivity to cars, companies that operate cruise ships, companies that operate agricultural equipment and want to monitor the equipment and fields, Two from an existing customer. "
Capital raising at the end of the year
The NSLSat-1 satellite was built in the company of Scottish company Clyde Space and will be managed by its control station in Glasgow. The demonstrations are carried out from anywhere in the world, using a computer program that assigns tasks to the satellite, which are transmitted to the control station, which transmits them to the satellite. The instructions also include the ability to focus on specific sites by tilting the satellite, thereby diverting the antenna to the desired target.
Today, the company has about 20 employees, and has raised $ 15 million to date, including $ 11 million from private funds and $ 4 million from the Israeli Space Agency (ISA). "Our plan is to raise large amounts of capital after the launching and demonstrations we will take for our customers."
To watch live broadcasts: Роскосмос ТВ
https://techtime.co.il/2019/07/03/nslcomm-3/
July 3, 2019
The company from Lod has developed a collapsible antenna that allows for a 10-fold reduction in the size and price of communications satellites. The program: Build an array of more than 100 tiny communication satellites
This Friday at 14:42 Israel time, it will be launched into a small and revolutionary communications satellite that was developed in Israel by the company NSLCOMM from the airport in Lod in recent years. The satellite is already on the Russian Soyuz rocket in the new Russian cosmodrome, Westcany, in eastern Russia. The Israeli satellite will be launched as a cargo with 27 other small satellites, along with the main cargo of the launcher, the new Russian weather satellite Meteor-M.
The Israeli satellite, NSLSat-1, will be launched into a five-year-long synchronous orbit with a radius of 580 km, and the modest launch will contain a new technology that could change the face of the satellite communications industry. Of a lightweight and collapsible communication antenna that is deployed in space after launch and provides satellites with performance comparable to those of a large, heavy antenna.
The goal is to deploy 120-150 tiny satellites in a medium-altitude orbit and provide broadband communications services worldwide, at a fraction of the cost of the services currently provided by geosynchronous communications satellites, which are very large satellites at a height of 36,000 km.
Technology has changed the business model
NSLCOMM was established about four years ago and is managed by Raz Yitzhaki, Daniel Rockberger, Daniel Ben Dov and Yizhar Marinov. Yitzhaki founded the Nano-Satellite Division at IAI and was responsible for 7 development plans. Chief Engineer Rockberger served for many years as a satellite engineer at IAI. He designed five nano-satellites and was deputy project manager for the French-Israeli satellite program Venus. Development Director Marinov was formerly the development manager at Gilat, and business development manager Ben Dov was formerly the head of a division at Elbit and Gilat.
At first, the plan was to produce the antenna and sell it to satellite companies, but it soon became apparent that the change in the antenna produced a significant change in the satellite structure and business model, which led to a change in strategy: satellite infrastructure and communication services. Yitzhaki explained to Techtime why the decision was made. Yitzhaki: "Today, most of the satellite's structure is designed to support an antenna, of which about 90 percent is required only during the launch." When we deploy a collapsible antenna in space, we can reduce the weight of the satellite by about 90 percent.
"In standard antenna technology, a satellite of 150-200 kg is needed to bring a 60-cm antenna space, and our technology can mount such an antenna using a satellite weighing only 10-15 kilograms. Our satellite is built from six units of the Qubasat platform (6U). This difference affects the cost of production and the cost of the launch, because the power of the launcher to raise a 200-kilogram satellite into orbit allows us to launch 10 satellites, so our launch cost is about a tenth of that of LEO standard satellites. "
In September, the demonstrations began for customers
In the first two weeks following the launching, tests will be conducted of the systems' proper functioning and the satellite's stability in the orbit. The antenna will then be deployed and tested. This is a folding antenna based on the use of a memory material that is used as the antenna arm, on which a special material is attached, which serves as the absorption and transmission element. When the antenna is released, it is deployed in space to a classical transmission and reception antenna.
After deployment, the antenna is focused on a subreflector with a flexible reflective surface and 10 motors that distort its shape according to the patented algorithm, which compensates for errors in the deployment of the flexible antenna and provides a hard level of performance. At this stage, its configuration will also be tested by shooting by two cameras that will transmit the location of optical points across the antenna, which will allow to accurately reconstruct its structure.
According to Yitzhaki, the company plans to start conducting demonstrations for potential customers as early as September. "We will demonstrate to them the ability to transmit broadcasts at a rate greater than 1 Gbps, and we are currently in contact with a large car manufacturer interested in IoT connectivity to cars, companies that operate cruise ships, companies that operate agricultural equipment and want to monitor the equipment and fields, Two from an existing customer. "
Capital raising at the end of the year
The NSLSat-1 satellite was built in the company of Scottish company Clyde Space and will be managed by its control station in Glasgow. The demonstrations are carried out from anywhere in the world, using a computer program that assigns tasks to the satellite, which are transmitted to the control station, which transmits them to the satellite. The instructions also include the ability to focus on specific sites by tilting the satellite, thereby diverting the antenna to the desired target.
Today, the company has about 20 employees, and has raised $ 15 million to date, including $ 11 million from private funds and $ 4 million from the Israeli Space Agency (ISA). "Our plan is to raise large amounts of capital after the launching and demonstrations we will take for our customers."
To watch live broadcasts: Роскосмос ТВ
https://techtime.co.il/2019/07/03/nslcomm-3/
