Innovative Magdrive Rogue Thruster to be
Demonstrated on D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier with ESA's ScaleUp
Program Support
Logan, Utah, August 5,
2024: On the first day of the Small Satellite Conference
in Logan, Utah, Magdrive, a space startup focusing
on innovative electrical propulsion systems, and
D-Orbit, market leader in the space logistics
industry, announced a collaboration for Magdrive’s first
in-orbit demonstration mission of the Magdrive Rogue propulsion
thruster, slated for a June 2025 launch.
“We are very excited to show the industry the
potential of our Magdrive system,” says Mark Stokes, CEO of
Magdrive. “This mission is the first step to unlocking
entirely new capabilities in high cadence avoidance manoeuvres,
sustained RPO, and anti-SDA activity for defense in space. We are
also extremely grateful to have the support of ESA via their
ScaleUp programme for making this mission possible.”
The Magdrive Rogue is a next-generation
electrical propulsion system, providing thrust of up to 30
mN with the same high specific impulse as existing electric
propulsion systems. Magdrive will be deploying two Rogues
onboard D-Orbit’s ION platform to showcase its ability to
scale multiple units as an array to serve satellites of any mass
class.
The Magdrive Rogue couples its high thrust with
the high efficiencies that electric propulsion systems are known
for, creating a game changer for the industry. The fundamental
difference is the use of a solid metal propellant instead of a gas
(i.e. Hall Effect Thrusters), and the use of internal energy
storage to ionise the solid metal into a hot plasma for a higher
thrust performance.
Magdrive Rogue will be tested onboard D-Orbit’s
proprietary OTV, ION Satellite Carrier. With its proven heritage of
13 successful orbital transportation missions to date, and over 40
hosted payloads already tested in orbit, Magdrive
identified ION as the ideal technology to test their electrical
propulsion system.
"We are thrilled to collaborate with Magdrive on
this mission, leveraging our proven ION platform to demonstrate the
potential of the Magdrive Rogue thruster," said Matteo
Lorenzoni, VP of Commercial Strategy at D-Orbit. "We are
also excited to support the ESA ScaleUp program through ION; the
initiative truly exemplifies ESA's dedication to fostering
advancements and innovations in the space industry and perfectly
fits within ION's scope and capabilities."
This mission is supported by ESA’s
“ScaleUp” programme, which enables SMEs to rapidly
commercialise their products for the space industry.
“I am pleased to see this deal happen between
Magdrive and D-Orbit through ESA’s ScaleUp programme,” said
Philip Thomas, Head of ScaleUp Programme Division.
“I trust this collaboration will prove fruitful and help both
companies achieve even bigger milestones.”
About Magdrive
Dr Thomas Clayson and Mark Stokes founded
Magdrive in 2020, with a mission to revolutionise in-space
travel.
The 10,000 sq ft lab is based at the Harwell
Science Campus in Oxfordshire and is considered to be one of the
UK’s leading space start-ups. They are backed with over £8m in
grants from ESA, Innovate UK, UK Space Agency, and the European
Innovation Council.
The Magdrive system is a high-power pulsed
plasma thruster. It works by storing up energy internally, in order
to deliver high-power pulses to detonate a solid metal propellant
into a plasma. The technology is scalable, and work has begun on
larger and more powerful thruster designs capable of servicing
spacecraft classes of 500kg and upwards.
www.magdrive.space
Press contact: Chuong Van Dang, Chief of Staff,
cvd@magdrivespace.com
About D-Orbit
D-Orbit is a market leader in the space
logistics and transportation services industry with a track record
of space-proven services, technologies, and successful
missions.
Founded in 2011, D-Orbit is the first company
addressing the logistics needs of the space market. ION Satellite
Carrier, for example, is a space vehicle that can transport
satellites in orbit and release them individually into distinct
orbital slots, reducing the time from launch to operations by up to
85% and the launch costs of an entire satellite constellation by up
to 40%. ION can also accommodate multiple third-party payloads like
innovative technologies developed by startups, experiments from
research entities, and instruments from traditional space companies
requiring a test in orbit. The whole, fully redundant ION can be
rented for edge computing applications and space cloud services to
provide satellite operators with storage capacity and advanced
computing capabilities in orbit.
D-Orbit's roadmap includes becoming a relevant
player in the in-orbit servicing market, which is forecasted to
become one of the largest, growing markets within the space
sector.
With offices in Italy, Portugal, the
UK, and a new US team, which will focus on bus design and
manufacturing, D-Orbit is the first certified B-Corp space company
in the world.
www.dorbit.space
Press contacts: Elena Sanfilippo, Head of Media
and Public Relations comms@dorbit.space
About ESA’s “ScaleUp”
programme
The ScaleUp programme is a key element of ESA’s
commitment to accelerating space commercialisation for a green and
digital Europe and supporting the growth of private investment in
space. It promotes game-changing New Space innovation by providing
start-ups with technical, financial and business support, and
helping businesses access global markets and investors to
accelerate growth.
- Signing of the Contract between Magdrive and D-Orbit