What a thruster does for a satellite, why the propellant matters, how ours works, how a thruster earns a place on a flight, and our numbers with how we got them.
01 · The job
Why a satellite needs a thruster at all
A rideshare rocket drops a small satellite where the rocket is going. After that, the satellite's own thruster does four jobs.
Each is a small push, a fraction of a newton for minutes at a time. Over a satellite's life they add up to most of what it can do.
Raise Climb from where the rocket left you to the orbit the mission needs.
Hold Air drag pulls a low satellite down; small pushes keep it in its box.
Avoid When a warning of debris comes, step out of the way.
De-orbit At the end, lower the orbit so the satellite burns up within five years.
The four jobs, drawn round a plain Earth. Green: the path with the thruster; amber: the push or the hazard.
02 · The propellant
Why not just use hydrazine?
Hydrazine works, but it is toxic and causes cancer. Fuelling a satellite with it takes a sealed room, people in pressure suits and most of a day.
Our ADN-based propellant is far less toxic (not harmless: we still wear gloves and goggles). It gives about as much push per kilogram and more per litre, because it is denser.
The cost: the catalyst bed must be heated before each firing, which takes power the satellite has to spare.
Specific impulse in vacuum, seconds
Hydrazine thrusters (typical)225typical value for the class, from published surveys
Our 1 N engineering model231measured, vacuum chamber, steady state, August 2026
Our flight model (target)245a target, not yet measured
Specific impulse: how long one kilogram of propellant can push with the weight of one kilogram. More is better.
03 · How it works
Propellant in one end, push out of the other
The propellant arrives under pressure from the satellite's tank. A valve opens for as little as 50 milliseconds or as long as an hour.
In the catalyst bed, a hot bed of small coated pellets, the liquid breaks down into hot gas. The nozzle turns that heat into speed, and the speed is the push.
Inlet and filter Stops any particle that could jam the valve.
Valve Opens and closes on a signal from the satellite, 50 ms at the shortest.
Thermal standoff Thin tubes that keep the bed's heat away from the valve.
Catalyst bed and heater Pellets heated to 350 °C split the propellant into hot gas.
Chamber Where the gas builds pressure, about 10 bar.
Nozzle Narrows, then widens: heat becomes speed, and speed is thrust.
The 1 N thruster in section, propellant flowing left to right. Not to scale.
04 · How we know
From the bench to an orbit
A thruster earns a place on a satellite by surviving, on the ground, everything the flight will do to it. These are the steps, in the order we take them.
01Fire it in open airDoes it light, every time?
02Fire it in a vacuum chamberThrust and specific impulse as they will be in space.
03Shake itVibration and shock at the rocket's levels.
04Freeze and bake it in a vacuumThermal vacuum cycles, as in orbit.
05Fire it for its whole lifeThe life test: every pulse it is rated for, and more.
06Fly itAn in-orbit demonstration before a customer's mission.
The milestones page shows which steps are done.
05 · The numbers
Our numbers, and how we got them
Measured means measured on our stand, with the test named. Target means we haven't measured it yet.
Numbers for Our numbers, and how we got them
Thrust, steady state
1.02 N
measured, vacuum, test 214, 31 Oct 2026
Specific impulse
231 s
measured, vacuum, steady state, Aug 2026
Specific impulse, flight model
245 s
target
Shortest pulse
50 ms
measured, test 188
Catalyst bed preheat
350 °C, 12 W, 20 min
measured
Thruster mass
380 g
engineering model, measured
Pulses fired
1,240
all tests to 31 Oct 2026
Cumulative burn
3.1 h
all tests to 31 Oct 2026
Rated life
50,000 pulses
target; life test planned 2027
Limits
What it can't do yet
It has not flown. Nothing on this page has been proven in orbit.
It needs 12 W for about 20 minutes to warm the catalyst bed before it fires.
The life test isn't done, so its rated life is a target.
It comes in one size, 1 N. Larger thrusters are not on our plan before 2028.
We can't export it yet: see the registrations on the milestones page.
The full data sheet, interface drawing and test reports go to mission teams under an NDA. Ask for the data sheet