Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (Stand N53) has completed initial testing of its electric propulsion system on the Venµs satellite, a joint venture between the Israeli Space Agency (ISA) and France’s CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales). The new propulsion system has undergone a conclusive systems test, and can be declared operational. The tests were conducted by Rafael’s own mission center via a ground communication station provided by IAI. Rafael has been involved in space projects for around 30 years, working closely with the ISA but also with foreign partners. The company’s space components are on around 70 satellites.
Venµs has two specific missions, a scientific role overseen by CNES and a technological assignment that is being headed by the ISA. That agency tasked Rafael with developing the new propulsion system, which is the principal focus of the technological mission. Electric propulsion offers reduced mass and around five times the efficiency of traditional chemical propulsion systems in terms of fuel consumption and satellite life. It also can reduce launch costs and enable heavier payloads.
In the Venµs mission, the new system is being evaluated for use with imaging missions that require precise and very low orbits, in which high drag is encountered. Around two and a half years into the Venµs program the system will be used to perform orbit transfers.
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