Satellite Minimization Technology Presents Opportunities
Taiwan-based Tensor Tech, a company specializing in satellite minimization, is working to develop lighter, smaller, and more power-efficient satellite subsystems to capitalize on the booming space industry.
"It is important to keep moving in our industry, constantly improving to ensure that we make interplanetary travel a reality."
Jordan Hsieh, Chief Business Development Officer at Tensor Tech.
According to a report by the Space Foundation, the annual global spending for the space industry hit $469 billion in 2022. The costs involved represent a prime opportunity for commercial companies to step in and assist on a variety of government and private space ventures.
"It is important to keep moving in our industry, constantly improving to ensure that we make interplanetary travel a reality. Growth of the space industry is limited mainly by cost, and Tensor Tech is addressing this pain point through disruptive innovation, offering our customers more efficient solutions that incentivize further development of this industry," said Jordan Hsieh, Chief Business Development Officer at Tensor Tech.
Charting New Courses in Satellite Minimization
Tensor Tech possesses a unique position in which to disrupt the industry standards, with technological innovations enabling attitude determination control systems (ADCS) in satellites to be smaller, lighter, and more power-efficient compared to traditional attitude control systems.
At present, there remain major obstacles for commercial entities looking to enter the growing space industry. The first is the building of launch rockets, while the second pertains to the building of the satellite, both of which brings substantial costs. A possible workaround is that of satellite minimization, but the ADCS is the biggest roadblock among all other subsystems. There is a limit to how much it can be shrunk down without impacting its tangible functions.
Tensor Tech says it has been able to make a breakthrough in ADCS, reducing the weight, size, and power consumption of the nanosatellite ADCS by 60% compared to conventional solutions. In addition, the company claims its technology can enable the space industry with wider commercial applications by allowing satellite missions to carry more payloads and further reducing the costs involved. This level of innovation extends to the ADCS testbed developed by Tensor Tech. The testbed is fully scalable and can measure the mass properties of a given device, and an upcoming partnership with a European company will bring further enhancements.
Tensor Tech's full attitude control solutions feature an integrated attitude determination and control systems. Catering to satellites of various sizes, the product lineup of ADCS-10m, ADCS-MTQ, ADCS-20m and ADCS-40m deliver both affordable prices and user-friendly functionality.
At the core of these systems is the control moment gyroscope (CMG), an integral component that has been further enhanced by Tensor Tech's technological advancements. The CMG-10m realizes a variable-speed, single-gimbal CMG driven by spherical motor technology. It successfully shrinks the volume and weight of a CMG for nanosatellites.
For those with other needs, the likes of the CMG-20m scissor pair or the CMG-40m pyramid cluster CMG will have plenty of use as well. Furthermore, Tensor Tech provides magnetorquers and sun sensors that can be size-efficient or tweaked to address specific needs.
Tensor Tech has plans to extend their product offering in the future, in particular with specialized CMGs tailored to micro and small satellites. Also, since gimbals are the part that most often requires replacement, the brand is developing gimballess versions of these groundbreaking products to maximize the lifetime of ADCS for space operation.
(Source: Tensor Tech news release. Images provided and from file)