Swedish Space Corporation Commissions ECAPS to Develop Environmentally Friendly Rocket Fuel.Business Editors STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 1, 2001 ECAPS has now received its first order from the Swedish National Space Board The Swedish National Space Board, or Rymdstyrelsen is a Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications. For research, it receives fundings from Ministry of Education and Science. . The order, worth SEK SEK In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Swedish Krona. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 11 million, is for a demonstration of environmentally friendly Environmentally friendly, also referred to as nature friendly, is a term used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment.[1] rocket fuel for satellite engines. Newly formed ECAPS is owned equally by the Swedish National Space Board and Volvo Aero. With their extensive combined know-how of satellite systems and rocket engines, respectively, the two companies will develop an attractive and competitive alternative to today's most commonly used fuel "hydrazine hydrazine (hī`drəzēn'), chemical compound, formula NH2NH2, m.p. 1.4°C;, b.p. 113.5°C;, specific gravity 1.011 at 15°C;. It is very soluble in water and soluble in alcohol. ." Since hydrazine is hazardous and carcinogenic carcinogenic having a capacity for carcinogenesis. , its handling is controlled by strict safety regulations. The foremost advantage of new "green" fuel is that it is environmentally friendly. Moreover, it is neither explosive nor particularly hazardous, which means that it can be handled with rubber gloves rubber gloves rubber npl → gants mpl en caoutchouc , in contrast to Hydrazin, which requires protective clothing that resembles a space suit. It is expected that this will yield substantial cost savings as a result of reduced handling expenses. The new fuel is based on a patent owned by ECAPS. "In addition to the definite handling advantages, the new fuel is characterized by higher performance than hydrazine. As a result, interest from the space industry is already considerable," says Ulf Palmnas, President of ECAPS. The Swedish National Space Board has now placed its first order, worth SEK 11 million, for a technological demonstration of the new fuel. In practice, this will involve prototype testing of various versions of the fuel in a laboratory environment. In addition to environmentally friendly fuel, the assignment includes the development of small rocket engine prototypes for the fuel. The engines will be used in a propulsion system designed mainly for smaller satellites in low earth orbit (communications) low earth orbit - (LEO) The kind of orbit used by communications satellites that will offer high bandwidth for video on demand, television, and Internet communications. . The propulsion system positions a satellite in the correct orbit and points it in the right direction. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/05/01/20010430BIT00080/bit0003.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/05/01/20010430BIT00080/bit0003.pdf |
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