The Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS) share price is pushing higher on Friday morning.
In early trade, the space, defence, and communication systems provider's shares are up over 5% to $5.69.
Why is the Electro Optic Systems share price on the rise?
Investors have been buying Electro Optic Systems shares after it announced a major breakthrough in laser technology this morning.
According to the release, the company has significantly advanced the global effort to mitigate space debris through its Guide Laser technology.
This innovation allows high speed adaptive optics to form laser beams that can track and move space debris at lower altitudes and faster speeds than ever previously possible.
This intellectual property was developed in collaboration with the Space Environment Research Centre (SERC) and will now be commercialised and owned by Electro Optic Systems. Planned applications include space debris mitigation and high bandwidth satellite communications.
The company notes that approximately US$700 billion worth of global space infrastructure currently delivers essential services globally. This includes communications, navigation, resource management, banking, weather forecasting and climate change monitoring.
This infrastructure is at risk from space debris ranging in size from spent rocket stages as large as buses, to flakes of paint measuring only 5mm. As this debris typically travels at speeds in excess of 8km per second, even very small objects can badly damage or destroy satellites. This could make the company's technology very popular with the owners of this infrastructure.
Management commentary
Electro Optic Systems' CEO, Dr Ben Greene, said: "Space debris is a major societal threat, globally but especially in Australia due to our heavy economic dependence on space assets. For decades EOS has been a world leader in the tracking and classification of space debris. Our accurate, dynamic database of space objects is the key pre-requisite for the active manipulation of those space objects from the ground using lasers, but this capability has long been out of reach, requiring major advances in technology."
"EOS already makes a major contribution to mitigation of the space debris threat through our accurate space debris tracking, but after international coordination we expect to make a further contribution by actively moving hazardous debris from impact trajectories. The reduction in risk from space debris has broad societal benefits as well as direct benefits to EOS, as a satellite proprietor and space operator," he added.
