3 ms·

Any idea what technology this might use for propulsion?

• pjscott 5y ago
  From what little they've said, it's a pretty safe bet that their propellant mix is: * Safer to handle than traditional hypergolics, which are crazy toxic and therefore difficult and expensive to work with. (This is what they mean when they say that the propellant is "green".) * Something that doesn't require cryogenic storage. That stuff is great for launching from earth, but not great for storing longer-term in satellites. (And they will need to store it over a longer term in order to provide de-orbit, which they say they will.) If I had to take a guess, I'd guess a hydroxylammonium nitrate monopropellant. It was tested in orbit by NASA a few years ago and apparently worked great: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/green/gpim-nears-completion.html https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/green/gpim-nears-comp...