A clever satellite design

Lots of space news this week such as the successful Vulcan second launch (although with an apparent nozzle problem on one of the solid rocket boosters).  But I found this story on the IEEE Spectrum site interesting:

https://spectrum.ieee.org/low-earth-orbit-satellite-india

A concept by an Indian space company, Bellatrix Aerospace, for a recon satellite in low earth orbit for better resolution photographs.  Due to the increased atmospheric drag encountered at the lower orbit there is a need to regularly boost the satellite.  This design does this with solar power and by harvesting and compressing the atmosphere - the boost is performed by heating the compressed air until it becomes ions which can be electrically accelerated to boost the satellite.  In other words, use the problem cause (drag caused by the increased atmosphere at lower heights) to solve the problem by using the atmosphere as rocket propellant - very elegant !

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm