Space junk satellite to launch

摘要

The Finnish company, Aurora Propulsion Technologies, is to launch a satellite to test space junk removal technologies using Rocket Lab, a launch provider and space systems company. Aurora is set to deploy the AuroraSat-1 to low Earth orbit in a demonstration of its proprietary propulsion devices and plasma brakes that have been designed to provide efficient propulsion and de-orbiting capabilities for small satellites. Lifting-off from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Mania Peninsula as part of a rideshare mission scheduled in Q4, 2021, the satellite will be deployed using Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle. The CubeSat will be used to validate the water-based propellant and mobility control of its Resistojets that can assist space craft with de-tumbling capabilities and propulsion-based attitude control. AuroraSat-1 will also test its deployable Plasma Brakes which use a micro-tether to interact with charged particles in space, ionospheric plasma, to generate significant amounts of drag to deorbit the spacecraft safely at the end of its life.