satellite propulsion

Satellite propulsion startup Benchmark eyes growth in military market
Small satellite propulsion suppliers see opportunities in the military market as the Pentagon shifts focus to smallsats.

Frontier Aerospace completes design of Peregrine thrusters
Frontier Aerospace, a small Southern California company, has completed the design of attitude control thrusters it's developing with NASA and Astrobotic Technologies for deep space missions.

Benchmark to provide propulsion for Spaceflight’s Sherpa-NG
Satellite propulsion startup Benchmark Space Systems announced an agreement Aug. 4 to provide non-toxic chemical propulsion for rideshare provider Spaceflight Inc.’s next-generation orbital transfer vehicle, Sherpa-NG.

Aurora to test deorbit tether on Momentus mission
Finnish startup Aurora Propulsion Technologies signed a contract at the SmallSat Symposium to fly a deorbiting technology demonstration with Momentus Space.

Satellite propulsion startup Dawn Aerospace developing small launch vehicle
A green propulsion startup with more than $1 million in sales says it is gaining traction in the smallsat market while funding its own small launch vehicle.

WRC-19 begins • Hiber buys green thrusters • Ariane 6 facility inaugurated in Germany
The 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference began this week in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The satellite industry and the cellular industry are both hoping to gain new spectrum

Momentus reveals plans for Vigoride Extended Line service
Momentus is preparing to demonstrate its water plasma propulsion system on an Astro Digital 16-unit cubesat scheduled to launch July 5 on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Momentus signs in-space transportation pact
In-space transportation startup Momentus announced Feb. 6 the first contract for its Vigoride and Vigoride Extended satellite repositioning services at the SmallSat Symposium here.

US State Department clarifies satellite thruster regulations
The U.S. State Department has revised an export control rule to clarify that spacecraft and their thrusters should not be classified as rocket engines, as some companies have been doing.

Austrian startup ramping to mass produce tricky electric propulsion thrusters
Austrian startup Enpulsion claims to have found the key to bringing a notoriously difficult propulsion technology to market.

Hydrazine ban could cost Europe’s space industry billions
The European Union might ban the use of the toxic satellite propellant hydrazine as early as 2021, which would present a major setback for the block’s space industry.