In the second of a series of five articles, Mark Williamson, independent space technology consultant and technical author, looks at the five technology trends that are changing the face of satellite communications. In the second of such articles, the author describes how new forms of electric propulsion are helping to make satellite operations more efficient. The need for propulsion in delivering a satellite to orbit is fairly obvious, and this is the role of the launch vehicle. The need for propulsion once the satellite is in orbit is perhaps less obvious, probably because satellites are thought of as weightless, distant and divorced from all physical contact with Earth. Unfortunately for satellite designers and operators, matters are rarely as simple as they seem.
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