Spacecraft thrusters represent the cutting edge 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 2024.

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Cold Gas Thruster for Customized Propulsion Systems

The B1 from Dawn Aerospace is a Cold Gas Thruster with a thrust range of 0.49-1.35 N. This thruster utilizes nitrous oxide (N2O) and propylene (C3H6) green propellants and has a specific impulse of 248 sec. It has a pulse frequency of 4 Hz and a minimum impulse bit of 1.4 mN.s (Cold gas). It has a dry mass of 260 g and measures 108 x 79 x 40 mm. The thruster can achieve 6DOF satellite control and is also suitable for rendezvous and proximity operations. Read more.

5 N Monopropellant Thruster for Space Exploration Missions

The MONARC-5 from Moog is a Spacecraft Thruster with a steady state thrust of 5 N. This monopropellant thruster has a specific impulse of 230 sec and a feed pressure range of 5.5-29.0 bar. It has successfully flown on missions such as Jason CS, MMS, EarthCare, LCROSS, and Worldview. The thruster is suited for spacecraft and flight vehicle attitude control applications and is ideal for applications such as earth observation and communication, space exploration, and missile defense. 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 specific impulse of up to 1900 seconds and a thrust efficiency of up to 50%. This cost-effective spacecraft thruster works on inert gases such as Xenon (Xe) and Krypton (Kr). It has a mass of 1.2 kg and measures 148.5 x 96.5 x 81.5 mm. This Hall-effect thruster is ideal for constellations of small satellites. Read more.

20 N Monopropellant Hydrazine Thruster

The 20N Monopropellant Thruster from the Orbital Propulsion Centre is a Monopropellant Spacecraft thruster that has a thrust range of 7.9-24.6 N. It has a nominal specific impulse range of 222-230 sec and a supply pressure range of 5.5-24 bar. It is equipped with an internal redundant catalyst bed heater and provides thermal insulation to guarantee optimum start-up. It has a mass of 0.650 Kg and a nozzle area ratio of 60. The thruster is ideal for attitude, trajectory, and orbit control of small satellites and midsize satellites. 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. It is designed for SmallSats and supports I2C and CAN interfaces. It 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.

2kW 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. The thruster features an innovative center-mounted cathode and uses novel design features like a two-piece “composite” anode and shortened dielectric channel which makes the thruster less sensitive to vacuum facility background pressure and exhibits less plume divergence. It has a mass of 6.3 kg and a cathode mass of 0.3 kg. 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, Collision avoidance, Orbit Transfer, Station Keeping, Mission Extension, Momentum Management, RPO and Servicing, and Controlled Deorbit. 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.

0.6-4 mN Resistojet Spacecraft Thruster

The ARM-A from Aurora Propulsion Technologies is a Spacecraft Thruster that is designed for small satellites with a mission life of 3+ years. This water-resistojet thruster utilizes a water-based propellant and has a specific impulse of 100 s. It has an active power consumption of 3-5 W and an idle power consumption of 50 mW. The thruster has a mass of 1 kg/U and supports CAN, I2C, and RS-485 command interfaces. It is a full 3-axis attitude control system with 6 resistojet thrusters. The ARM-A thruster is ideal for use in CubeSats (1-3 U), nano and microsatellites. Read More.

Bipropellant Thruster for Attitude In-orbit Applications

The PM200 from AAC Clyde Space is a Bipropellant Thruster that has a thrust of 0.5 N and a specific impulse of 285 sec. It features low system complexity and zero propellant toxicity that allows for simple and robust operations, both on the ground and when in orbit. This bipropellant thruster requires a supply voltage of 5-12 V and a power consumption of 0.1-12 W. It has a mass of 1.1 Kg and measures 97.7 x 95.4 x 95.4 mm. This bipropellant thruster is ideal for in-orbit maneuvers and Hohmann transfer orbit applications. 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 1500-4500 s. This scaled NANO technology thruster has a propellant mass of 1.3 kg, a total system power of 30-120 W, and a standby power of 10-15 W. It has a power consumption of 105 W at nominal thrust and provides controllability down to a precision of 50 μN with low thrust noise. This flight-proven thruster has a dry/wet mass of 2.6 kg/3.9 kg and measures 140 x120 x 98.6 mm. Read More.

Water Propulsion System for Microsatellites

The HYDROS-M from Tethers Unlimited is a Spacecraft Thruster that uses hybrid electrical/chemical propulsion technology and provides green, safe, high-thrust and high-fuel economy propulsion. It has a power dissipation of 7-40 W and supports RS-422 and the Ethernet command interface. It is sized for micro-satellites and is designed to fit inside a 15-inch separation ring. The HYDROS-M has a wet mass of 13.7 kg with a propellant capacity of 6.0 kg and measures Ø 381 x 191 mm. Read More.

Green Propulsion Thruster for SmallSats

The 100mN HPGP from ECAPS is a Green Propulsion Thruster that has a thrust of 30-100 mN. It is especially suited to small satellites and CubeSats. This spacecraft thruster has a mass of 0.040 kg and a specific impulse of 196-209 sec. It has a power consumption of 6.3-8 W and requires a supply voltage of 9 V. The HPGP Thruster uses a non-toxic propellant and has a compact size which makes it ideal for executing agile maneuvers and orbit changes for small satellites. Read More.

18-25 mN Hall-Effect Thruster Propulsion System

The ASE (XENON.KRYPTON) from Astra is a Spacecraft Thruster that it compatible with Krypton and Xenon propellants. It features a heater-less, center-mounted, instant-start cathode and novel magnetic lensing and magnetic circuit. It has a total dry mass of 7.5 Kg and is suitable for a wide range of missions, from the smallest earth observation satellites up to large communications satellites with multiple kilowatts of solar power. Read More.

12.5mN Hall Effect Thruster for Satellite Propulsion

The SHT250 from Seran Systems is a Spacecraft Thruster that provide a thrust value of 0.0125 N and has a specific impulse of 1300 seconds. It has a total impulse capability of 140 kNs and has an efficiency of 40%. The spacecraft thruster requires a supply voltage of 250 V and a power consumption of 210 W. It has magnetic coils configuration that allows efficient use of onboard resources. Read More.

Vacuum Arc Thruster for Ground Testing & Research Applications

The AIS-VAT1-DUO from Applied Ion Systems is a Vacuum Arc Thruster that has a thrust of 8.4 to 52 uN. This spacecraft thruster has a mass of 84g and a specific impulse of 87 sec. It has a power consumption of 5W or 10W and requires a supply voltage of 5V. The thruster measures 84 x 42 x 21 mm and is suited for use of electric propulsion with minimal volume and power budget and can also be used in ground testing for academic, student, and research applications. Read More.

Hall Effect Thruster for Lunar & Interplanetary Missions

The Halo from ExoTerra Resource, LLC is a Hall Effect Thruster that has a thrust range of 4-30 mN. It can be used in SmallSats and 6U CubeSats up to ESPA class microsatellites. This spacecraft thruster has a specific impulse of 700-1400 sec and an impulse of up to 450 kN. It can use Xenon or Krypton as a propellant and has a power consumption of 100-450 W. The spacecraft thruster has a mass of 0.79 Kg and is ideal for station keeping, de-orbit, and low-cost lunar and interplanetary missions. Read More.

42 mN Cold Gas Thruster for Satellite Fine Control

The Cold Gas Thruster (CGT) from AST Advanced Space Technologies is a Spacecraft Thruster that provide a thrust value of 42 mN. This thruster has a specific impulse of 69 seconds and has an inlet pressure range of 1-6 bar. It requires an operating voltage of 22-36  V and has a coil resistance of 140 ohm. This spacecraft thruster has a thruster mass of 0.042 Kg and provides new operational modes of small satellite fine control. Read More.

Low Power Cold Gas Thruster for Small Spacecraft

The LOW POWER COLD GAS THRUSTER V1E10703-01 from VACCO Industries is a Spacecraft Thruster that provides a thrust range of 0.5-5 N. It has a proof pressure of 5400 psia and a burst pressure of 7500 psia. The spacecraft thruster has an inlet pressure of up to 3000 psi which are ideally suited to simple blow-down systems. It requires a supply voltage of 21-32 V and a power consumption of 30 W. This cold gas thruster has a  magnetic latching to reduce the power consumption and is specifically designed for small spacecraft. Read More.

4.5 mN Electrothermal Thruster for CubeSats

The MVP System from CU Aerospace LLC is an Electrothermal Thruster that has a thrust of 0.0045 N. It is well-suited for 3U or larger CubeSats. This spacecraft thruster has a mass of 1.06 Kg and a specific impulse of 66 sec. It has a power consumption of 13.5-45 W and requires a supply voltage of 12 V. This thruster supports RS-422 and RS-232 interfaces. It consumes an inert polymer propellant fiber which is a patented technology that retains performance characteristics competitive with other warm gas systems. Read More.

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Note: This list has been compiled based on user activity on SATNow. To ensure that we cover the whole range of spacecraft 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.