The Hoytether is a trademarked name of for a novel topology for a space tether

Space tether

Space tethers are cables, usually long and very strong, which can be used for propulsion, stabilization, or maintaining the formation of space systems by determining the trajectory of spacecraft and payloads...

, consisting of a lattice of strands, arranged in a circular cross-section with redundancy

Redundancy (engineering)

In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of critical components or functions of a system with the intention of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the case of a backup or fail-safe....

 to handle potential damage from space debris

Space debris

Space debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk, and space waste, is the collection of objects in orbit around Earth that were created by humans but no longer serve any useful purpose. These objects consist of everything from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to erosion, explosion...

 and micrometeoroid

Micrometeoroid

A micrometeoroid is a tiny meteoroid; a small particle of rock in space, usually weighing less than a gram. A micrometeor or micrometeorite is such a particle that enters the Earth's atmosphere or falls to Earth.-Scientific interest:...

s.

The Hoytether concept was proposed in 1995 by Robert P. Hoyt

Robert P. Hoyt

Dr. Robert P. Hoyt is a physicist and engineer who is famous for his invention of the Hoytether. He also originated the MXER Tether concept, which combines momentum-exchange techniques with electrodynamic reboost propulsion to enable a bolo tether system to serve as a fully reusable in-space upper...

 and Robert L. Forward.

The MAST

Multi-Application Survivable Tether

The Multi-Application Survivable Tether experiment was an in-space investigation designed to use picosatellite spacecraft connected by tethers to better understand the survivability of tethers in space. It was launched as a secondary payload on a Dnepr rocket on 17 April 2007 as a part of the...

 tether experiment was launched 17 April 2007 aboard a Dnepr rocket. with a 1 km multistrand, interconnected Hoytether to attempt to test and prove the long-term survivability for tethers in space. Unfortunately the tether failed to deploy.

See also

• Electrodynamic tether
  Electrodynamic tether
  Electrodynamic tethers are long conducting wires, such as one deployed from a tether satellite, which can operate on electromagnetic principles as generators, by converting their kinetic energy to electrical energy, or as motors, converting electrical energy to kinetic energy...
  
  
• Tether propulsion
• Tether satellite
• STS-75
  STS-75
  STS-75 was a United States Space Shuttle mission, the 19th mission of the Columbia orbiter.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: payload*Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.5°*Period: 90.5 min-Mission objective:...
  
  
• CubeSat
  CubeSat
  A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a volume of exactly one liter , has a mass of no more than 1.33 kilograms, and typically uses commercial off-the-shelf electronics components...