Israeli scientists are preparing to launch a trio of small satellites that will orbit the earth every 90 minutes, with a total of only 1 gram of fuel per day.
The shoebox-sized nanosatellites leave Earth on Saturday afternoon aboard a Russian rocket aboard a Russian rocket and will be launched four hours later from the rocket 50 kilometers above the earth’s surface for a three-year orbit.
The mastermind behind the operation is Pini Gurfil, an aviation engineer whose father and grandparents were banished from Russia to Kazakhstan “just because they were rich Jews.” The Israeli-born professor, whose father emigrated to Israel in 1973, told The Times of Israel that the launch of his innovation from Kazakhstan felt like the end of the traumatic ordeal his family endured, which ultimately killed his grandmother has.
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Israel has already stolen a place in the growing field of nanosatellites with several single-satellite launches, including one last month. Gurfil’s team hopes that the ambitious three-satellite plan will further strengthen Israel’s reputation in the global push for small satellites.
Nanosatellites built at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, inside the boxes from which they are shot in orbit (thanks to the Technion)
The satellites are launched to test whether a series of small satellites, instead of a single large satellite, can be used to monitor signals from emergency locomotives used by ships, aircraft, explorers and hikers. If possible, say researchers, it could pave the way for much cheaper monitoring of these systems.
“This is a major step forward for Israeli space research and technology,” said Gurfil, one of Technion’s top space experts. “It offers new possibilities for locators and for the miniaturization of satellites, which is an important focal point internationally and is considered a disruptive innovation.”
The trio of satellites will be kept in perfect shape, less than 250 kilometers apart, thanks to small navigators on board.
Engineers with one of the new nanosatellites built at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (with permission from the Technion)
With a specially built fuel system developed by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, along with the rest of the technology on board, each satellite can complete its mission on 400 grams of krypton, the gas often used to fill light bulbs. This is an average of 133 grams of fuel per year, or 0.37 grams per satellite per day.
One of the new nanosatellites built at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (thanks to the Technion)
The Technion team expects that with three separate satellites located relatively close to each other, each following the location of beacons, will deliver high accuracy readings. It will test the theory with its $ 9 million ‘cheap’ satellite trio, funded by the Adelis Foundation and the Israeli space agency, which has been in development for almost ten years.
Gurfil said it would be an emotional occasion. “It has taken so long to develop these satellites, especially the small fuel system, and this is the first launch of three satellites by Israel, so it is significant,” he said. ‘But it is also important on another level.
‘The rocket carrying the satellites will start from Kazakhstan. About 80 years ago, my father and his parents, like others, were deported from the USSR by Stalin just because they were rich Jews.
‘My grandmother died of starvation in Kazakhstan and was buried, and now we are launching an Israeli satellite from the same ground. So it is for me emotionally and symbolically on a national level for the Jewish state. In a way, it feels like healing from history. ”
Gurfil said the fuel efficiency was achieved by designing the satellites to harness natural forces.
“The gravity of the earth drives them forward, which means that only minimal fuel is needed for their actual orbit,” Gurfil said. ‘It’s normal for satellites, but what’s special is that these satellites also use minimal fuel to control and navigate.
‘This is because they use natural forces such as gravity and resistance to the atmosphere very effectively to find their way. For ten years we have been researching how to make satellites fly in a formation without drifting apart due to natural forces and in a fuel efficient manner. Now we are ready to launch, and we are excited and excited. ”
