Oxygen/Hydrogen Thruster Development for Space Mobility and Sustainability

机动性现在被视为在太空赚钱的关键。航天器必须移动到目标轨道，移动以确定自己的方向，移动以避免碰撞，并在其生命周期结束时移动以脱离轨道。到2020年，每艘发射的航天器将至少有一个机动推进器。然而，目前为航天器选择的推进器速度太慢，推进剂耗尽太快，而且经常使用有毒推进剂，面临监管阻力。航天器制造商被迫在低推力的电力推进和低性能的化学推进之间做出一个不舒服的选择。Protolaunch公司正在开发一种独立的推进系统，使用性能最高的化学推进剂——氧/氢。Protolaunch的创新点火技术和正在申请专利的增压和储存技术，使这些推进剂首次用于小型卫星。该项目旨在设计、建造和测试由氧和氢推进剂驱动的protolo发射推进器的面包板发动机，并将降低关键创新技术的风险。Protolaunch的独立推进器为航天器提供：* **更快的机动**——加快创收时间。** *更长的推进剂寿命** -增加创收寿命。** *无毒推进剂** -降低地面处理成本，实现新的任务架构。

Mobility is now seen as essential to make money in space. Spacecraft must move to their target orbits, move to orient themselves, move to avoid collisions and move to de-orbit at the end of their lives. By the end of the decade, every spacecraft launched will have at least one mobility thruster.However, the current selection of thrusters for spacecraft are too slow, run out of propellant too quickly, and frequently use toxic propellants that are facing regulatory headwinds. Spacecraft manufacturers are forced to make an uncomfortable choice between low thrust electric propulsion or low performance chemical propulsion.Protolaunch is developing a self-contained propulsion system using the highest performing chemical propellants -- oxygen/hydrogen. Protolaunch's innovative ignition technology and patent pending pressurisation and storage technology allow these propellants to be used in SmallSats for the first time.This project seeks to design, build and test a breadboard engine of the Protolaunch thruster powered by oxygen and hydrogen propellants and will de-risk the critical innovative technologies.Protolaunch's self contained thrusters give spacecraft:* **Faster manoeuvres** -- speeding up time to revenue generation.* **Greater propellant lifetimes** -- increasing revenue generating lifetime.* **Non-toxic propellants** -- reducing ground handling costs and enabling new mission architectures.