Water propulsion technologies picking up steam

When the Aerospace Corp. launched the Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration in 2017, one mission objective was to test water-fueled thrusters. At the time, the idea was fairly novel. Two years later, water-based propulsion is moving rapidly into the mainstream.

New thruster aims to help microsats bust out of the kiddy pool

LOGAN, Utah — Stellar Exploration, a space technology company based in San Luis Obispo, California, is in the midst of qualification testing of a miniature propulsion system for planetary microsatellite missions.

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House passes two space bills

The House of Representatives passed two non-controversial space bills June 27 addressing leadership in rocket propulsion research and licensing of commercial space support vehicles.

Phase Four’s smallsat plasma thruster finds a ride to space

Phase Four LLC, a startup based in El Segundo, California, announced plans March 7 to conduct the first on-orbit demonstration of its plasma propulsion technology in late 2017.

Advanced space propulsion startup shuts down

A Colorado company that said last year it had achieved a technological breakthrough in space transportation has decided to shut down, citing the high costs and risks associated with further development.

Green Propulsion System Mated with GPIM Satellite

The propulsion system is powered by a fuel that is more efficient and environmentally friendly than the hydrazine propellants typically used on spacecraft.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Wraps Green Propulsion System

Aerojet Rocketdyne has completed a green propulsion system that will be tested on a NASA mission in 2016.

Op-ed | Green Space Propulsion: For a Sustainable Space Era

If stringent demands are posed for the foundation of an environmentally sustainable space era, enabling a comprehensive tool set of sustainable space solutions appears as an important choice. However, sustainability is a broad term within this context. Achievement of environmental sustainability

U.S. Air Force Outlines First Steps in RD-180 Replacement Effort

Facing congressional pressure to begin work on an American replacement for the Russian-built main rocket engine used today to launch most U.S. national security payloads, the U.S. Air Force quietly unveiled the initial steps in a procurement strategy that has been complicated by a key industry player’s own plans.

AFRL Gives Seal of Approval to British Air-breathing Engine Design

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has answered with a qualified “yes” the question of whether a British company’s revolutionary air-breathing rocket engine, designed for a horizontal-takeoff vehicle climbing to orbit with a single stage, holds promise.

Orbital ATK Propulsion Division Lays off 61

Orbital ATK has laid off 61 people in its propulsion systems division, the company said .

U.S. Lawmaker Wants NASA Working on Interstellar Propulsion

NASA’s proposed, and oft-reviled, Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) may be worth doing if it helps pave the way for an electric-powered interstellar rocket engine, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) said.

CNES Gives All-Electric Satellite Research a $30 Million Jolt with More To Come

The principal beneficiaries of the government program have been France’s two main satellite prime contractors, Airbus Defence and Space, and Thales Alenia Space.

Spotlight | Busek Co. Inc.

Vlad Hruby founded Busek in 1985 to further development of plasma devices. 

U.S. Air Force Solicits Information on New Rocket Engine

On the same day two Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines arrived in Alabama from Moscow, the U.S. Air Force issued a request for information on the possibility of weaning itself from those very engines.