November 04, 2019
While the company says it has a working
Currently, if an antenna is not perfect, you have to live with it, with the
losses,†said Tamir. That may not sound like much, but those are two major
hurdles that have limited satellite operators for years.â€.The way he hopes to do
it is by using a parachute-like antenna that deploys once in space.
This type
of solution will conquer the market, because it addresses some of the most
serious and bothersome issues for satellite operators,†said David Pollack,
Spacecom’s chief executive.Spacecom, which is collaborating with Facebook to
beam Internet services to Africa, said that if the new Skyfi antenna is
successful, it would be in huge demand.The two technology leaders are working on
ways to beam Internet access from the sky to remote areas, Google with
high-flying balloons and Facebook with a combination of drones and larger, more
complex satellites.
While the company says it has a working "proof of conceptâ€,
the technology has yet to be proven in space, so don’t expect a fleet of
Internet-providing nanosatellites for at least a few years. But it will take an
orbiting cluster of 60 miniature, or nano, satellites, each about the size of a
shoe box, to provide full coverage of earth, said Raz Itzhaki Tamir, a veteran
of Israel’s aerospace industry who co-founded Skyfi four years ago. "We can
change that and be flexible, thus gaining more revenue from the
satellite.Israeli startup Skyfi is looking to outflank Facebook and Google in a
race to provide worldwide Internet access by developing the first
self-correcting antenna that can turn mini-satellites into power Wholesale Vacuum bags Israeli startup
Skyfi is looking to outflank Facebook and Google in a race to provide worldwide
Internet access by developing the first self-correcting antenna that can turn
mini-satellites into powerful transmitters covering the globe.
For now, Skyfi is
perfecting its system by testing a large version of the antenna in a
50-square-meter (yard) echoless chamber that simulates the conditions of space.
The antenna can then mechanically adjust itself for imperfections in the
transmitter’s surface, allowing a stronger signal to pass, and even alter the
direction it points should broadcast needs change over the course of the
satellite’s life.Thousands of new satellites will be launched into space in the
coming decade and many will use technology from Israel, which has built on its
military expertise to capture a sizeable chunk of the growing commercial space
market, particularly in the field of miniaturisation.
It plans to launch its
first unit in the next 18 months.Skyfi raised $3 million in a round led by
Jerusalem Venture Partners, one of the country’s most successful venture capital
funds, and says it has signed letters of intent to sell its antennas to global
players such as Lockheed Martin and Spacecom. But the antenna alone could be big
business in the meantime
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