Tag: Propulsion Systems
-
Ursa Major Successfully Completes Hotfire Test Campaign of Ripley Engine
Ursa Major, America’s leading privately funded company focused solely on rocket propulsion, today announced a milestone in the development of its redesigned 50,000-POUND THRUST “Ripley” rocket engine: successful hot fire tests. The test campaign showed the integrated Ripley engine including turbomachinery, oxidizer-rich pre-burner, and additive-manufactured copper thrust chamber assembly firing as a complete system in…
-
Benchmark Space Systems Ramps Up Production of Metal Plasma and Bi-Propellant Thrusters
Laser-focused on delivering mobility without compromise, Benchmark Space Systems announced that it has signed contracts for nearly two dozen new electric metal plasma thrusters (MPTs), with some set to play a key role in upcoming, unnamed in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) satellite docking demonstration missions. The bulk of Benchmark’s first MPT orders will be…
-
Pale Blue Successfully Operates its Water Vapor Propulsion System in Low Earth Orbit
Pale Blue succeeded in operating the water vapor propulsion system (resistojet) in low earth orbit. Pale Blue’s propulsion system was installed on “EYE,” a nano-satellite for STAR SPHERE Project, and tested for the first time in space. Going forward, the company will innovate and expand the commercial use of its water-based propulsion systems for small…
-
Neumann Space and Inovor Technologies Successfully Delivers Electric Propulsion System
Neumann Space, a technology leader of in-space electric propulsion, and Inovor Technologies, Australia’s leading satellite manufacturer, have announced that together, the companies have successfully completed delivery of the Neumann Drive with the Apogee satellite platform ready for spacecraft integration and launch. This milestone represents the first time an Australian electric propulsion product has qualified for…
-
Thales Alenia Space to Provide Electric Propulsion for Korea’s GEO-KOMPSAT-3 Satellite
Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has signed a contract with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) to provide electric propulsion for incorporation on their GEO-KOMPSAT-3 (GK3) satellite. Scheduled for launch in 2027, GK3 is a multi-band communications satellite that will provide broadband satellite communication services in the Korean…
-
NASA Selects Experimental Space Technology Concepts from NIAC Program for Initial Study
Imagine a future in space where pellet-beam propulsion systems speed up travel to other worlds, pipelines on the Moon transport oxygen between settlements, and Martian bricks grow on their own before being assembled into homes. Researchers will delve into these ideas and more using NASA grant funding. The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program fosters…
-
Pale Blue Provides Water-based Propulsion System to Sony for its Spacetainment Project
Pale Blue has provided a water vapor propulsion system (water engine) for a nano-satellite of Sony’s STAR SPHERE Project. The propulsion system will enter and maintain the orbit of the satellite, which will fly in Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of 500 km to 600 km. Leveraging its technology, the water propulsion system will…
-
Hypernova to Test Electric Propulsion System on EnduroSat’s Platform
Hypernova will validate its proprietary plasma electric propulsion system, in orbit, on EnduroSat’s Platform-2. The launch is scheduled for January 2023 on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Transporter-6 mission. With support from EnduroSat’s Space Service, the thrusters are expected to perform an extensive testing campaign with several satellite maneuvers under a wide variety of operational modes &…
-
Spire Global to Launch Six Satellites on SpaceX Transporter-6 Mission
Spire Global, Inc. (“Spire” or “the Company”), a global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, will launch six satellites on the SpaceX Transporter-6 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station no earlier than January 2023. The satellites will demonstrate advancements and new capabilities for Spire’s weather and aviation solutions. Spire will launch two demonstration satellites carrying next-generation…
-
General Atomics Successfully Completes Nuclear Thermal Propulsion System Design
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems announced that it has completed major milestones for the Track A, Phase 1 Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program. Under contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), GA-EMS delivered a baseline design of a DRACO Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) reactor and engine and successfully tested key components…