NASA Completes Tests on Innovative Small Satellite Propulsion System

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center engineers tested a satellite with dual-mode propulsion using a single propellant.

NASA engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, have successfully completed testing on an innovative small satellite. Known as the ASCENT Propulsion Dual Mode mission, this project features a spacecraft about the same size as a large shoebox. It's designed to demonstrate a unique propulsion system that uses a single, non-toxic propellant called ASCENT to operate two different types of engines from a common fuel tank. This system efficiently combines high-thrust combustion with low-thrust electrospray thrusters, conserving both mass and volume. The electrospray thrusters were developed by MIT, the chemical propulsion by Plasma Processes, and the spacecraft bus integration by Georgia Tech. Comprehensive leak tests, including a helium pressurized leak test in a vacuum chamber, were conducted to ensure the propulsion system's integrity.