The technology protection requests were the result of COPE’s learning in the SGDC satellite operation
DCTA, by Lieutenant Alessandra Borges
The Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA) made, on April 13, in technical advisory to the Aerospace Operations Command (COMAE), the applications for protection of intellectual property of an innovative technology entitled “Method of mixture ratio control by thermal actuation in propellant tanks of space systems”.
For the first time in DCTA’s history, a technology patent was filed in the European Community, in addition to the intellectual property protection applications filed in Brazil and the United States of America, to ensure the exclusive exploitation of the technology in these markets.
The technology in question is a process that offers the market a technical solution, which allows the fine tuning of the mixing ratio by iterative thermal actuation in the propellant tanks of bipropellant space systems. Its story began in 2017, when COMAE’s Space Operations Center (COPE) began operating the Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite (SGDC). In addition to ensuring the employment of its main space system, COPE also became dedicated to maximizing the lifetime of this SGDC. The experience and knowledge in the space area, since 2014, with the SGDC Technology Absorption Program, has allowed COPE to develop said technology for space operations.
“The COPE environment is very conducive to the identification of innovative solutions, because it is during operations that we identify the real needs for improvement. Associated with a creative technical staff willing to test new methods of operation, knowledge that was initially isolated ends up being integrated. It is from these connections that innovative ideas emerge,” points out Captain Engineer Henrique Oliveira da Mata, inventor of the technology and a member of COMAE’s military staff since the beginning of SGDC’s operations.
Still according to Captain Da Mata, “it was the sum of theoretical mastery, the development of new computational tools, and operational experience that allowed the development of the innovative method for defining the optimal temperature point for the operation of satellite propellants. Under these conditions, a satellite, such as SGDC, is able to make maximum use of the propellants available in the tanks, avoiding waste that shortens its operational life. It is estimated that the practical application of the results of this technology should extend the SGDC’s operation by at least three months, and could lead to savings of around R$10 million.”
The technologist from DCTA’s intellectual property protection sector, Renato de Lima Santos, informed that, the patent application deposits made, constitute a first and indispensable step so that the technologies can be transferred to the national and international market.
“This accomplishment is the fulfillment of COMAE’s mission, to employ the aerospace power in order to guarantee the sovereignty of the air space and the integration of the national territory, combined with DCTA’s mission, to develop scientific-technological solutions in the field of Aerospace Power, in order to contribute to the maintenance of the sovereignty of the air space and the national integration; in both cases, there are direct effects that contribute to the strengthening of the Defense Industrial Base, the Brazilian society, and the national economic development”, he said.
Photos: Petty Officer Johnson and Private A. Soares / FAB