This week we will discover a new type of satellite system that can fly forever in very low earth orbit. We investigate the discovery of a new type of star and a new way to find meteorites that have fallen to earth. Finally we will have a quick look at a few news stories that may be important steps in shaping the world of the late 2020’s and 2030’s.
A satellite with Unlimited Propulsion
Spanish start up Kreios Space has developed a fuel free propulsion system that will enable satellites to orbit much closer to earth.
Currently satellites use an orbit known as Low Earth Orbit (roughly 2,000 kilometers from earth) where there is no atmosphere to slow down satellites. This allows them to remain in position for a long time. If a satellite was closer to earth the atmosphere would gradually slow the satellite down and cause it to stop orbiting.
Kreios has developed a proposition system that will allow satellites to remain in Very Low Earth Orbit(VLEO), roughly 150 to 400 kilometers above earth. The Karman Line (where an aircraft can no longer support itself due to the lack of atmosphere) is 100 kilometers above the earth. The Karman Line is the standard definition for the edge of space. Operating in VLEO requires constant thrust due to the small amount of atmosphere still present at those altitudes.
Kerios has developed an Air Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) system. ABEP absorbs the surrounding air and generates plasma that is accelerated through a thruster and an electromagnetic muzzle to obtain thrust. The system works on air and solar power. It needs no fuel.
The satellites will be much closer to the earth thus allowing a 16 times increase in resolution for photographs taken from space. This will allow greater clarity for earth observation systems and telecommunication satellites.
New Type of Star
Astronomers from the University of Tubingen in Germany has discovered a star that is covered in oxygen and carbon rather than hydrogen and helium.
Stars spend most of their life fusing hydrogen atoms to make helium (nuclear fusion). If the star is big enough, when it runs out of hydrogen the star will transform into a red giant which fuses helium into carbon and oxygen. If the star is not big enough it will turn into a white dwarf.
The team discovered two stars that have an exterior that is rich in oxygen and carbon. Underneath the surface they have a lot of helium. A star with this type of exterior has usually burnt all of its’ helium and is on the way to becoming a white dwarf.
Speculation is that the stars were formed by the collision of two white dwarfs. A very rare stellar merger. It is most likely a binary star system that has joined into one star, a combination of a star with a high concentration of carbon and oxygen and a helium rich white dwarf. Current evolutionary star models can’t explain the existence of these stars. More work is needed.
Finding Meteorites
Finding a meteorite that has landed somewhere on the planet is usually more about luck than good management. When a meteorite falls to earth team of five people search potential landing sites on foot. This is costly and time consuming.
A team at Curtain University in Western Australia has used drones and AI to identify fallen meteorites in the West Australian desert. Typically it takes about 350 or so labor days to recover meteorites. This new system will reduce that immensely.
The team used meteorites from the Western Australian Museum to train the neural network used to identify fallen meteorites. The most difficult part was to teach the system to ignore false positives. The team proved their system on a freshly fallen meteorite in April 2021. The Desert Fireball Network spotted a meteor falling over the Nullabor and the team used the system to identify exactly where the meteorite had fallen making recovery simple. In total it took 12 labor days to recover the meteorite in contrast to the usual 350.
A Belgium team is using a similar system to identify and locate meteorites in Antarctica. Nearly two thirds of the meteorites recovered on earth have been found in Antarctica. Most ice entrapped Antarctic meteorites end up in the ocean. However some get concentrated on the surface in ice sheets. The team used satellite imaging of Antarctica to allow the AI to identify 600 possible areas of interest. This includes some unknown potential fields of meteorites. The use of drones and AI to locate the meteorites in those locations will great reduce the time taken to find new meteorites.
Meteorites were originally part of other planetary bodies so they yield valuable clues about the nature, origin and evolution of the rest of the solar system.
A few news updates
A Car with no Steering Wheel
The US National Highway Safety Authority has approved a rule that allows cars without steering wheels or pedals to drive on the roads. These are fully autonomous cars. General Motors owned Cruise has launched these vehicles as a self driving taxi service in parts of San Francisco. The service only operates in a small area of the city (with wider streets and less foot traffic) between 11pm and 6am and is initially limited to 30mph (45kph). The system will be gradually rolled out to a wider area and to more cities as it is proven safe. It will however still be some years before we see these vehicles everywhere. In Australia a self driving car project is underway in Dubbo with vehicles currently being run on local roads for testing.
US Digital Dollar
US President Joe Biden has just made an Executive Order that will allow the development of a Digital Dollar in the US. This will be a blockchain based currency that is backed by the US Reserve. Many other Governments are working on Digital Currencies. China is well advance with their digital currency (rumored to be called the Chia), Australia has been investigating the issue for several years and the European Central Bank is developing a Digital Euro.
Digital Currencies will enable online transactions without the need for banking intermediaries. They will be ultra low cost and faster to transact than the current banking system. No more bank transaction fees or delays in making payment. The downside is that the Government will know everything about monetary transactions, everything! Being a Government project it will be some years before we start paying for goods with digital dollars.
Hydrogen City, Texas
Green Hydrogen International has announced plans to create the world’s largest green hydrogen production and storage hub in Duval County, South Texas. The hub will produce 60GW of electricity which will be used to produce 2.5 billion kilograms of green hydrogen per year. The hydrogen will be piped to nearby Ammonia production facilitates and hydrogen power plants.
The hydrogen will be used to produce ammonia for fertilizers, aviation fuel, rocket fuel and can be used in fuel switching power plants. Over 4GW of new fuel switching gas power plants that are able to burn a combination of hydrogen and natural gas are planned in the US.
Australian renewable energy developer Energy Estate is assisting with the development of Hydrogen City.
Paying it Forward
If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.
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Till next week.