News Release

Surpassing expectations, Israeli satellite begins its fourth year in space

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Society for Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

Technion teams with Cornell to use satellite as test platform for new control methods

HAIFA, Israel and NEW YORK, N.Y., January 11, 2002 – Satellites the size of Gurwin TechSat II typically stay in space for one to two years, but this mostly student-built satellite has exceeded expectations as it starts its fourth year in orbit. At the same time, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology satellite serves as the foundation for an agreement with Cornell University researchers to test new control methods.

Technion and Cornell researchers have developed small spacecraft attitude controllers – which regulate the direction the satellite points and improve their efficiency – specifically designed for less expensive, lighter small spacecrafts. The controllers are to be tested in the winter and spring of 2002 on the Gurwin TechSat II, considered ideal for the tests because of its small size (106 pounds). If the control methods work, they may be used in the next generation of U.S. satellites.

"When you are in space, it’s very difficult to tell which way you are pointing, and especially difficult to be oriented in the right direction" according to attitude specialist Professor Mark L. Psiaki of Cornell’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. "We are pursuing this vital field because new developments are needed to make the use of these small satellites more economical. It would take much more money – and a larger satellite – to use the existing hardware."

Prof. Psiaki, a visiting professor at the Technion in 1994-95 and again in 2001, is working with Technion professor Moshe Guelman, head of the Asher Space Research Institute (ASRI). Prof. Guelman has been working on the satellite since it was launched in 1998. At the time, the satellite was the least expensive, smallest satellite of its kind, and the lowest power consumer. Philanthropist Joseph Gurwin of Long Island, N.Y. funded the project.

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About Prof. Moshe Guelman

Prof. Moshe Guelman, head of the Asher Space Research Institute at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, is a professor in the Technion Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. Prof. Guelman, a faculty member of the Technion since 1993, teaches and performs research in the fields of dynamics, guidance and control of aerospace vehicles. He has published papers in several prestigious journals, including the Journal of Astronautical Sciences and the Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics.

About Prof. Mark Psiaki

Prof. Mark Psiaki is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. His research focuses on enhancing the performance of satellite systems through the use of estimation and control theory, dynamic system theory, optimization and system modeling. In 1994 he received a Lady Davis fellowship under which Prof. Psiaki joined the Technion Faculty of Aerospace Engineering for a year. He joined the Technion faculty again in 2001 to work on the Gurwin TechSat II satellite.

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The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is Israel's leading scientific and technological center for applied research and education. It commands a worldwide reputation for its pioneering work in computer science, biotechnology, water-resource management, materials engineering, aerospace and medicine. The majority of the founders and managers of Israel’s high-tech companies are Technion graduates. The Technion’s 19 faculties and 30 research centers and institutes in Haifa are home to 13,000 students and 700 faculty members.

Based in New York City, the American Technion Society (ATS) is the leading American organization supporting higher education in Israel. The ATS has raised $868 million since its inception in 1940, more than half of that during the last eight years. A nationwide membership organization with more than 20,000 supporters and 17 offices around the country, the ATS is driven by the belief that the economic future of Israel is in high technology and the future of high technology in Israel is at the Technion. Technion societies are located in 24 countries around the world.


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