Mini space thruster that runs on water

This tiny fingernail-length space thruster chip runs on the greenest propellant of all: water.

Designed to maneuver the smallest lessons of satellite, the operation of this Iridium Catalyzed Electrolysis CubeSat Thruster (ICE-Dice Thruster) developed with Imperial School within the U.Okay. relies on electrolysis.

Avoiding any want for cumbersome gaseous propellant storage, an related electrolyzer runs a 20-watt present by water to supply hydrogen and oxygen to propel the thruster.

The ICE-Dice Thruster is so small in scale—with its combustion chamber and nozzle measuring lower than 1mm in size—that it might solely be assembled utilizing a MEMS (Micro-Electrical Mechanical Methods) strategy, borrowing strategies from the microelectronics sector.

A take a look at marketing campaign achieved 1.25 millinewtons of thrust at a particular impulse of 185 seconds on a sustained foundation. Testing came about by an ESA Common Assist Know-how Program De-Danger exercise, to show the thruster’s feasibility in a laboratory testing.

The experimental data gathered throughout this exercise will assist information growth of a flight-representative “Engineering Mannequin” of the propulsion system, together with the electrolyzer. This development can be led by URA Thrusters in collaboration with Imperial.