The Norman and Helen Asher Space Research Institute (ASRI) at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology is developing a first-of-its-kind technological demonstrator to address the global climate crisis. As part of the demonstration, a micro-satellite will be developed to showcase a sustainable approach of managing solar energy that reaches the earth from the sun. Implementing such a large-scale initiative has the potential to contribute significantly to the reduction of global warming by up to one and a half degrees.
The demonstrator satellite will be placed at the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point (SEL1, 1.5 million km from earth), and will perform a variable movement towards the sun and back to the earth, by controlling the shading sail. In this way, the satellite will be able to maintain its position in space for a significant duration and without dependence on complex propulsion systems. In addition, tilting the sail, or controlling the sail’s ability to transmit light, will make it possible to determine the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth’s surface from the sun and adapt to global climate needs.
