A new satellite company focused on monitoring and cleaning up objects in space
Created: 2021-12-25
Updated: 2022-02-20
Company - Privateer Space
Service
- Classification
- In-Space Transportation
- Category
- Active Debris Removal (ADR)
Space Situational Awareness (SSA)
- Fields
- In-Space Transportation
- Status
- 3) Development
- First launch
- 2022
Privateer is hitting the ground running. The company will be sending up its first satellite, dubbed “Pono 1,” on February 11, 2022. The spacecraft, which will be roughly 3U in size (just about half-a-foot), will be equipped with 42 sensors, 30 of which are non-optical and 12 of which are optical cameras. The non-optical sensors will be capable of a precision of as much as 4 microns. The actual body of the satellite will be made of carbon fiber and 3D-printed, using an approach that means it’s a single, solid piece with the same rigidity of titanium, Fielding said. Instead of propellant, it will be directionally oriented using magnetic torquers, a small device that generates electric current for attitude control.
To not pursue a complete Google Maps of space might not just be negligent — it could be fatal, according to Fielding. “I’m an optimist and I still am very, very, very afraid that we’re too late, that we’re probably within 24 months of the first on-orbit human space casualty. And the reason for that is just the proliferation in low Earth orbit.”
Sources
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