16 June 2016
SpaceX Successfully Launches All-Electric Satellites; Loses First Stage in Landing Attempt
... and Satmex; Satmex has since been bought by Eutelsat. The contract marked the first use of all-electric propulsion by Western satellite owners. Replacing the conventional chemical propellant makes the satellites about 50% lighter, which in turns...
August 2017
Big science from small spacecraft
... for X-band and Ka-band telecommunications; a compact, deployable Ka-band 0.5 m diameter reflector antenna; Micro-Electric Propulsion (MEP) that can provide up to 1 km/s of Delta-V; the design of a standard attachment container to deploy cubesats...
March 2015
ARTES and the world of satcoms
... platform and the implementation of a mission in partnership with SES. Compared to chemical propulsion, full-electric propulsion weigh less, letting operators choose between a lighter spacecraft or one with more payload, even though it takes...
10 March 2015
ARTES and the world of satcoms
... platform and the implementation of a mission in partnership with SES. Compared to chemical propulsion, full-electric propulsion weigh less, letting operators choose between a lighter spacecraft or one with more payload, even though it takes...
13 August 2018
NASA to partner with six US companies to develop space exploration technologies
..., Servicer and Exploration Vehicle Replenishment and Life Extension” and “ High Efficiency 6kW Dual Mode Electric Propulsion Engine for Broad Mission” The projects will advance satellite servicing and in-space platform propellant replenishment...
January 2019
Visiting an asteroid to find out how life began
... by ion engines. Ion engines are a form of electric propulsion that accelerates positively charged atoms of xenon gas using an electric field. They are an incredibly efficient form of propulsion, producing a change in velocity ten times greater than...
