Kiwi satellites start-up hopes to cut the waste in space.
An Auckland start-up believes it may be 18 months away from space trials of a ‘‘fuelless’’ propulsion system that could address two of the satellite industry’s biggest environmental black marks.
These are the need to repeatedly launch rockets to replace satellites after they fall back to Earth, and the volume of space junk littering orbit.
The lifespan of satellites is often determined by how much, if any, fuel or compressed gas they can carry to maintain their orbit as they are gradually dragged down by Earth’s gravity.
But Zenno Astronautics, which is based in Auckland’s LevelTwo technology incubator, is developing a magnetic propulsion system powered by solar panels that could in theory keep satellites in space indefinitely.
Its propulsion system is not to be confused with Nasa’s so-called ‘‘impossible’’ EmDrive that appeared to generate a tiny amount of thrust from bouncing microwaves within a confined chamber, but which many scientists now think couldn’t and didn’t actually work as advertised.
Instead, its prototype drive, which has been tested in a vacuum on Earth, obeys the laws of physics by using the power from the Sun to create a weak, directable magnetic field on board a satellite.
That could be used to attract, trap and decelerate space junk, sending it back down to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, or to ‘‘bounce’’ satellites off the Earth’s own weak magnetic field to maintain their orbit and extend their life.
‘‘Getting into space is very bad for the planet and expensive so you don’t want to be in a position where you have to continually replace your assets in space every few years,’’ founder Max Arshavsky, 29, says.
‘‘The idea is in the next five to 10 years we should be operating in space without fuel because it is unnecessary if you have energy from the Sun.’’
But the easiest and ‘‘most exciting’’ application of its shoebox-sized drive would be to use it like any magnet to attract small satellites towards one another in space, so they could fly in formation or self-assemble into larger structures, he says.
Magnetic fields – while strong enough to turn the arrow of a compass on Earth – are weak.
But so can be the forces required to move satellites in the near-zero gravity of space.
Arshavsky says the idea of steering satellites using magnetic fields dates back to the 1960s but had only been made practical by more recent developments such as hightemperature super-conductors.
Auckland University aerospace expert professor Guglielmo Aglietti says the principle behind the drive is sound.
‘‘Although the forces are very small, sometimes that is an advantage when you want to control things with precision – sometimes the forces can be a bit too big,’’ he says.
Zenno’s drive could in theory be used for all the purposes Arshavsky describes, as well as in conjunction with more powerful but ‘‘coarser’’ traditional engines to ‘‘finetune’’ satellites flying in formation, he says.
‘‘Sometimes you need satellites with instruments that are relatively large but which don’t need to be ‘monolithic’ to do certain measurements properly.
‘‘So you can imagine flying satellites in formation could give a similar performance to an extremely large, very expensive satellite.’’
One of the challenges will be that magnetic fields don’t tend to be ‘‘nice and uniform’’ and can oscillate, Aglietti says.
‘‘It is a bit like flying; it is much easier in calm air than if you fly in wind and turbulence.’’
Archavsky is the oldest of Zenno’s team of four full-time staff, another two of whom are recent Auckland University students.
So far they have attracted more than $1 million in funding.
Backers include Auckland UniServices, NZ Growth Capital Partners, private investors and Callaghan Innovation.
Peter Beck, founder of satellite launch company Rocket Lab, sits on LevelTwo’s advisory board.
‘‘Peter and I know each other well,’’ Archavsky says.
But he is not counting on New Zealand’s most famous rocket man to give Zenno a leg-up into orbit when it hopes to be ready for a space trial in 18 months to two years’ time.
‘‘If their pricing becomes more reasonable then maybe, but so far they are very expensive.’’
Rocket Lab used to market itself as the most affordable way to get into space but now specialised in being the most precise at placing satellites in orbit, Archavsky says.
‘‘In our case precision is not so important and we will go for affordability when it comes to launch.’’
Robbie Paul, chief executive of venture capital company Icehouse Ventures, says Zenno is an example of one of the ambitious ‘‘deep tech’’ firms that persuaded it to establish a $10m technology fund in conjunction with LevelTwo to invest in some of the incubator’s tenants.
Investors in the fund include angel investors, Icehouse board members and shareholders, and Icehouse Ventures itself which has contributed $100,000 off its own balance sheet.
‘‘We love seeing interesting talent come out of the universities and intellectually challenging goals because usually if you succeed with those things you can carve out a good competitive position,’’ Paul says.
Many of the start-ups in LevelTwo are tackling environmental challenges in sophisticated ways, he says.
Other occupants include e-waste recycler Mint Innovations and Helico Bio, which aims to grow human insulin in plants.
‘‘The thing that attracts us to deep tech is that often the companies in that space have goals beyond just ‘money’, and that is a competitive differentiator in its own right,’’ Paul says.
It is not yet an investor in Zenno, though.
Archavsky says Zenno isn’t in need of additional investment at this stage.
‘‘We have just raised a good round.’’