Magnetics Business & Technology - March/April 2022 - 26

INDUSTRY NEWS
Enpulsion Thrusters Propel Small & Nano Satellites
ity platform, enabling the onboard instrument to collect data
and revisit sites frequently.
Enpulsion recently launched its Micro family of thrusters for
heavier satellites. They are based on the same technology
of its NANO family, which has a notable flight heritage with
more than 50 units in space. Now scaled to significantly
more power, the Micro R3 produces up to 1.2 mN of thrust
with an input power of 120 W and provides up to 50 kNs of
total impulse, making it particularly adapted to small and medium
size spacecraft. It can be launched safely on any rocket
as it contains no pressure vessels or energetic chemical.
The thruster and propellant are all contained in a 14x12x10
cm module that can be bolted directly to a flat panel.
MethaneSat - Photo Credit: MethaneSAT, LLC & Blue Canyon Technologies
As
satellites get smaller, electromagnetic systems increasingly
are taking over propulsion duties from traditional rocket fuel
systems. One company whose mini-thrusters are heading into
space is Enpulsion of Austria, emerging as a leading manufacturer
of electric propulsion systems for nanosatellites and
microsatellites.
The company has been contracted to provide the propulsion
technology for Blue Canyon Technologies' Microsat in support
of the MethaneSAT mission scheduled to launch later in 2022.
A newly acquired subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, Blue
Canyon is a manufacturer and mission services provider for
the small satellite market. Currently it is supporting more than
50 unique government, commercial and academic missions
and building more than 90 spacecraft at its new 80,000 sq ft
facility in Lafayette, Colorado. It was acquired by Raytheon in
2020.
Enpulsion will provide its
Micro R3 thruster, a scaled
version of their technology
which targets small and
medium sized spacecrafts.
It is part of the new R3
class of thrusters that the
company has developed
together with several large
heritage satellite manufacturers
and space agencies.
The mission will provide global, high-resolution detection and
quantification of methane emissions from oil and gas facilities,
as well as measure emissions from other human-generated
methane sources. The data acquired will be made available
to the public, and provide companies, governments and other
stakeholders with a new way to track, quantify and take actionable
steps to reduce methane emissions.
The thruster will be used to launch BCT's X-SAT Saturn-Class
satellite, which offers a compact profile designed to maximize
the volume, mass and power needed for the mission. It can
carry payloads up to 200 kg. As with other buses included in
the BCT's X-SAT product line, the Saturn-Class is a high-agil26
Magnetics Business & Technology * March/April 2022
The thruster is inherently redundant with more than a 100
parallel ion emission sites and 4 cold redundant neutralizers.
Its high specific impulse and control precision are well suited
for station keeping and attitude control, the company says.
A protective casing shields the electronics from hazardous
space radiation.
" We see this as a major milestone in
the company's development " , said Dr.
Alexander Reissner, CEO. " The Micro
is the result of many years of product
development and will allow us to reach a
new group of customers. "
Designed as modular, scalable units, the
thrusters are manufactured in the company's
own semi-automated production
facility in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Currently
there are more than 50 Enpulsion
thrusters in space with more than 150
delivered to customers.
Dr. Alexander
Reissner, CEO of
Enpulsion
Enpulsion thrusters are built as modular units
Enpulsion's products are based on Field-Emission Electric
Propulsion (FEEP) technology, behind which are more than
30 years of research and development work in cooperation
with the European Space Agency and FOTEC, the research
subsidiary of the University of Applied Sciences Wiener
Neustadt. FEEP is based on field ionization of a liquid metal,
and subsequent acceleration of the ions by a strong electric
field. Typically, a FEEP device consists of an emitter and an
accelerator electrode between which a potential difference of
perhaps 10 kV is applied.
For more info, see www.enpulsion.com and www.bluecanyontech.com.
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