The idea of ββmaintenance of satellites in orbit beckons with its economic feasibility. It promises revenue for both service providers and cost savings for satellite companies, which is also a lot of money. Also, service satellites can clean orbits from space debris, and this is also saving on launches. Today, the Japanese company Astroscale decided to enter this new business, but it did it on the shoulders of the Israelis.
According to Japanese , the young Japanese company Astroscale has acquired the Israeli startup Effective Space. The amount of the transaction is not disclosed. The money for the purchase came from the Japanese company I-Net, which specializes in IT and communications satellites. Astroscale itself has raised $140 million in investments in previous years, primarily from ANA Holdings and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, with funding from the Japanese government.
Israeli startup Effective Space was founded in 2013. Over the past years, he could not do anything concrete in space, although he even managed to with a subsidiary of Roscosmos International Launch Services (ILS) a contract to launch non-existent space cleaners.
As conceived by the developers, special service satellites will make the necessary adjustments to the orbits of communication satellites, thereby extending their service life. In the future, delivery of fuel by service satellites will be allowed, when unified means of replenishing fuel supplies in space are developed. The issue of collection and destruction of space debris is also being considered.
Added earlier this year in history, a commercial service of a satellite in space has been completed. Northrop Grumman's Mission Extension Vehicle 1 successfully docked with a 20-year-old Intelsat communications satellite and transferred it to a new orbit, extending the life of the vehicle by another five years.
Source: 3dnews.ru