SAN FRANCISCO – Morpheus Space is ramping up electric propulsion production in its new Dresden, Germany, factory.
In the 1,260-square-meter factory, Morpheus will initially produce 100 GO-2 Field Emission Electric Propulsion-based propulsion systems per year. With additional personnel and equipment, Morpheus could produce 500 GO-2 units annually.
Morpheus executives decided to expand production after hearing current and prospective customers complain of waiting a year for propulsion deliveries, Morpheus CEO Daniel Bock told SpaceNews.
“Nobody has the time to wait a year for any subsystem,” Bock said. “And propulsion is one of the few subsystems that typically are not produced in-house because it’s quite complex.”
The in-space propulsion business is undergoing significant change in response to growing demand to supply commercial and military constellations.
“The supply chain didn’t keep up with the growth of the satellite and mission trajectory,” Bock said. “We hope that we can contribute to solving that issue.”
Mass Production
Bock recognizes that scaling up production is often a challenge for propulsion manufacturers. In the past, Morpheus produced slightly more than a dozen propulsion systems a year.
“If you want to produce higher numbers, you need to follow a different approach,” Bock said. “You need to establish clear processes and reduce the manual work as much as possible.”
Guiding Morpheus through this transition is Chief Operating Officer Martin Kelterer, whose previously work at Mercedes-Benz included heading production engines.
Morpheus’ GO-2 propulsion, which is scheduled to be flight tested in 2025, is designed for satellites ranging from six-unit cubesats to 250-kilogram satellites. For satellites with a mass greater than 250 kilograms, GO-2 “might be an interesting option for for secondary propulsion,” Bock said.
