{"id":68230,"date":"2017-05-17T17:55:30","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T09:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/lithuania-start-up-to-test-new-cubesat-propulsion-system\/"},"modified":"2017-05-17T17:55:30","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T09:55:30","slug":"lithuania-start-up-to-test-new-cubesat-propulsion-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/lithuania-start-up-to-test-new-cubesat-propulsion-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania Start-Up to Test New CubeSat Propulsion System"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

NanoAvionics<\/strong>, a space technology start-up based in Lithuania, will test a new \u201cgreen\u201d propulsion system for CubeSats in orbit this month to finalize the product for a commercial launch. The company will test the propulsion system on LituanicaSat 2, which was developed in partnership with Vilnius University<\/strong> as part of the QB50 atmospheric research mission. LituanicaSat 2 is scheduled to fly this month atop the Indian Space Research Organization\u2019s<\/strong> (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).<\/p>\n

Vilnius University supplied the scientific instruments and NanoAvionics integrated its Enabling Propulsion System for Small Satellites (EPSS) to move the into the correct orbital slot and to test other critical functions. According to CEO Vytenis Buzas, who co-founded NanoAvionics in 2014, EPSS has the potential to unlock massive relaunch savings for satellite operators by prolonging the lifetime of an asset by a factor of four.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Buzas believes EPSS can provide CubeSats with functionalities taken for granted on larger, Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, such as collision avoidance and orbit synchronization across an entire fleet.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur customers are planning to launch their constellations into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). They have to think about how they are dealing with drag,\u201d Buzas said. \u201cWith propulsion systems, satellites can last longer in orbit before they naturally decay. So we were looking for lower cost technologies to be proportional with the CubeSat industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"The
The Enabling Propulsion System for Small Satellites (EPSS). Photo: NanoAvionics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Following guidelines issued by NASA <\/strong>and the ESA<\/strong>\u2019s Clean Space Initiative, EPSS will use a non-toxic monopropellant based on Hydroxylammonium Nitrate (HAN) or Ammonium Dinitramide (ADN), which NanoAvionics is buying from third party suppliers. Other propulsion system manufacturers have also begun to move away from the standard hydrazine propellant, as the compound is highly toxic, unstable and carcinogenic. \u201cAs Lithuania is a member of the European Union, we are following those guidelines pretty carefully,\u201d Buzas said. \u201cYou do not need special equipment to handle those materials. You have to handle it with caution, of course \u2014 after all, this is a rocket propellant. But in comparison to hydrazine it is very friendly to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buzas also said NanoAvionics developed EPSS with a focus on standardization. \u201cIn general, propulsion systems are very customized and strongly tailored for the particular satellite or mission,\u201d he said. \u201cOur idea was to develop [EPSS] to be very modular to be ready for the booming market of smallsats. Of course there are standard mechanical, electrical and data interfaces\u2026 We\u2019re following these trends.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Buzas, his team has been developing EPSS for almost five years, before the company was even spun out of Vilnius University. Still, the system may not be market ready until 2019 at the earliest. \u201cWe have to perform a lot of extensive testing, starting with safety and finishing with functional testing. Realistically, I think we will be able to put the propulsion system on our shelf two years from now,\u201d Buzas said.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the company has already begun selling its other market-ready components \u2014 including CubeSat buses and solar arrays \u2014 to its first set of pilot customers. While he was unable to disclose any specific partnerships, Buzas stated that some of the projects NanoAvionics has contributed to will launch into orbit near the end of this year. \u201cWe have customers currently for all regions except Africa,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Buzas noted that it was somewhat challenging at first to get the funds NanoAvionics needed to get off the ground. \u201cIn Lithuania, we do not have too much of a tradition related to aerospace activities,\u201d he explained. The company was however able to secure grants through the Lithuanian government and European Commission, as well as a considerable investment from venture capital organization Practica Capital<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In the future, though, Buzas said it\u2019s possible the company will move to the United States to take advantage of bigger potential investments. \u201cThe environment in the U.S. is a little bit better for novel businesses because everyone knows that the United States\u2019 attitude is more opportunistic toward risky businesses. Europe in general is a little more conservative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NanoAvionics, a space technology start-up based in Lithuania, will test a new \u201cgreen\u201d propulsion system for CubeSats in orbit this month to finalize the product for a commercial launch. The company will test the propulsion system on LituanicaSat 2, which was developed in partnership with Vilnius University as part of the QB50 atmospheric research mission. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}