E-Space said its platform will “help governments and large companies build space-based applications in a capital-light manner” for uses “ranging from secure communications to managing remote infrastructure.” E-Space says its satellites will use a peer-to-peer communication model, and the company’s website describes the plan as a “multi-application cloud server in space… powered by E-Space’s rapidly scalable optical 5G mesh network.”
Satellites “designed to clean space”
E-Space claims its satellites will help solve the growing space debris problem by “capturing” debris the satellites collide with—although one expert told Ars that the system is unlikely to capture any large space debris.
The company’s announcement said its satellites will be “designed to minimize the debris from objects they hit and capture debris they contact to prevent further collisions.” The satellites have smaller cross-sections than those in other constellations, making them “much less vulnerable to collision,” E-Space said.
Wyler also told the FT that E-Space satellites “will be designed to ‘crumple’ rather than break apart when struck,” the report said. “They will also ‘entrain’ any debris they encounter and automatically deorbit when a certain amount has been collected.” E-Space’s announcement said its plan calls for satellites that are “designed to fail into a high-drag configuration where they passively, and quickly, deorbit” and “fully demise upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.”
Design is apparently in the early stages, and it’s unclear which capabilities will be included in the first test satellites that E-Space plans to launch.
