Sat, Apr 07, 2018
Water-Based System Provides Propulsion For Smallsats
Deep Space Industries (DSI) has signed a contract to provide its Comet water-based satellite propulsion systems for the BlackSky Earth observation constellation of smallsats. DSI will provide an initial block of 20 water thrusters for the BlackSky satellites which are scheduled to start launching later this year.
This announcement comes on the heels of Spaceflight Industries’ recent $150 million funding and the development of LeoStella LLC, a joint venture between Spaceflight Industries and Thales Alenia Space. LeoStella is developing a Seattle-based facility to manufacture the low-cost, high-performance BlackSky satellites and is tasked with building the next 20 spacecraft with the Comet propulsion technology between now and 2020. These smallsats are part of an ultimate constellation of 60 satellites that provide high revisit rate Earth imagery and when combined with other space and terrestrial based sensors, will enable delivery of innovative global monitoring solutions and geospatial activity-based intelligence services.
“The launch-safe propulsion features of the Comet system are well aligned with BlackSky’s performance needs to enable affordable and flexible satellite systems,” said Nick Merski, vice president of space operations, Spaceflight Industries. “We’re looking forward to working with the DSI team on this and future projects.”
“Customers like LeoStella are exactly why we developed the Comet propulsion system,” said William Miller, chief executive officer of Deep Space Industries.
Comet is the first propulsion system in Deep Space Industries’ line of green propulsion solutions designed for small satellites. While other propulsion systems use either high-pressure or toxic propellants, DSI propulsion systems are designed to be low-pressure, non-toxic, and therefore launch-safe, while still offering suitable performance for small satellites. Comet is ride-share compatible, easy to work with, and customizable for many mission types and size. Furthermore, and in the context of DSI’s longer-term goals, all its propulsion systems use propellants that can be sourced from space resources.
(Source: Deep Space Industries news release)
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