Spacecraft thrusters represent the pinnacle of propulsion technology and play a critical role in space exploration by providing the necessary thrust for maneuvering, orbit adjustments, and trajectory corrections. With the increasing demand for space exploration and satellite deployment in both governmental and commercial sectors, the development and utilization of advanced thruster technologies have become paramount. In this article, SatNow has listed some interesting Thrusters that were trending on the website in 2023.

Visit SatNow to keep up to date with new Thruster products, news, whitepapers, webinars, and events.

6.6-19.3 N Cold Gas Thruster

The B20 from Dawn Aerospace is a Cold Gas thruster that has a thrust of 6.6-19.3 N. It has a dry mass of 610 gms and a specific impulse of 285 s. It has a valve pressure of 0.8-12 W and requires a DC supply of 12-28 V. This ITAR-free REACH-compliant thruster consists of a health monitoring instrumentation system that includes an integrated and isolated thermocouple and chamber pressure sensor. It utilizes green propellants like nitrous oxide (N2O) and propene (C3H6). This cold gas thruster measures 167 x 80 x 68 mm. Read more.

22 N Hydrazine Bipropellant Thruster for Geostationary Satellites

The BT-6 from IHI Aerospace is a Hydrazine Bipropellant Thruster that is designed for use in geostationary satellites. It has a thrust of 21.5 N and a specific impulse of 295 s. This bipropellant thruster has a propellant throughput of 583 Kg and an inlet pressure of 1.69 MPa. It consists of Hydrazine/NTO (Nitrogen Tetroxide) propellants. This flight-proven thruster is stable over a wide operational range and is less expensive than imported thrusters. Read more.

2 kW Hall Effect Thruster for GEO Satellites

The BHT-1500 from Busek is a Hall Effect Thruster with a nominal thrust of 101 mN and a specific impulse of 1710 seconds. This thruster has a discharge power of 1500 W and a throttle range of 1000 W - 2700 W. It uses Xenon, Krypton, and Iodine as a propellant. It has a mass of 6.3 kg and a cathode mass of 0.3 kg. Read more.

Plasma Thruster for Satellite Orbit Raising & Navigation Applications

The PPS 5000 from Safran Group is a Plasma Thruster that has a thrust of 150-300 mN. This spacecraft thruster has a mass of 12.3 Kg and a specific impulse of 1,730-2,000 sec. It has a power consumption of 2,500-5,000 W and requires a supply voltage of 300-400 V. The thruster is ideal for handling satellite orbit raising and station-keeping for a wide range of telecom and navigation satellite applications. Read more.

Gridded Ion Thruster for SmallSats

The NPT30-I2 from ThrustMe is a Gridded Ion Thruster that has a thrust of 0.0003 to 0.0011 N. This spacecraft thruster has a mass of 1.2-1.7 Kg and a specific impulse of up to 2400 sec. It has a power consumption of up to 35-65 W and requires a supply voltage of 12-28 V. This thruster consists of a smart iodine propulsion system that has passive thermal management and intelligent operation control. The thruster is available in two dimensions – 1U (96 x 96 x 113 mm) and 1.5U (93 x 93 x 155 mm). Read more.

15-28 mN Hall-Effect Thruster for LEO & GEO Satellites

The ST-40 from Space Electric Thruster System (SETS) is a Hall-Effect Thruster that is designed for LEO and GEO satellites. It has a thrust of 8-25 mN and an estimated life-hours of 4500 hrs. It has a mass of 1.2 kg and a specific impulse of up to 1900 s. This compact hall-effect thruster has a discharge power of 150-450 W, a discharge voltage of 200-300 V, and a thrust efficiency of up to 50%. It measures 148.5 x 96.5 x 81.5 mm and is ideal for constellations of small satellites. Read more.

Green Propulsion System for Small Satellites

The Halcyon from Benchmark Space Systems is a Spacecraft Propulsion System with a thrust range of 0.25 - 10 N and a specific impulse of 150 - 170 sec. This propulsion system is developed for 6U through ESPA satellite operations. It has a maximum firing time of 10,000 sec (per thruster) and a propellant mass of 0.66 kg (per 1000 Ns Impulse). The propulsion system is ideal for applications such as Orbit Insertion and Collision avoidance. Read more.

Monopropellant Thruster for Satellite Communication Applications

The ASE MAX (XENON.KRYPTON) from Astra is a Monopropellant Thruster that has a thrust of 0.05 N (KRYPTON) and 0.06 N (XENON). It can be used in small GEO spacecraft. This spacecraft thruster has a mass of 4.5 Kg (KRYPTON) and 4.5 Kg (XENON) and a specific impulse of 1800 sec (KRYPTON) and 1760 sec (XENON). It has a power consumption of 1400 W (KRYPTON and XENON). Read more.

1 mN Electric Propulsion Thruster for Small to Medium Size Spacecraft

The ENPULSION MICRO R³ from ENPULSION is a spacecraft thruster with a thrust of 0.0003-0.001 N. It has a nominal thrust of 1 mN and a controllable specific impulse of 1,500-4,500 s. The thruster has debris safety and the PPU (Power Processing Unit) can be stacked or integrated separately from the thruster. It has a mass of 2.6-3.9 kg and measures 140 x 120 x 98.6 mm. Read more.

22 N Bipropellant Attitude Control System Thruster

The DST-11H from Moog is a Spacecraft Thruster with a thrust capacity of 22 N. It has a feed pressure of 5.5-27.6 bar and a specific impulse of 310 s. This bipropellant thruster has a nominal mixture ratio of 0.85 and a valve power of 41 W. It has a mass of 0.77 kg and a nozzle expansion of 300:1. This flight-proven thruster utilizes hydrazine/MON propellant and has been a part of several programs such as Intelsat, BepiColombo, Wild Geese, Tenacious, and GOES-R. Read more.

Click here to learn more about Spacecraft Thrusters listed on SatNow.

Note: This list has been compiled based on user activity on SatNow. To ensure that we cover the whole range of Thrusters we limited the number of products from each category and company. The listed products are shown in random order and are grouped by category.