I-Corps: Solid-state Flow-controlled Electric Thruster System for Small Satellites

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a small satellite bus equipped with novel solid-state propulsion technology to enable provision of remote sensing data to customers using much smaller satellites that are significantly less costly to deploy in large numbers. Satellites are a crucial provider of Earth observational data to various end users across defense, agriculture, energy, and other broad markets.

Fundamentally, the frequency and latency of this data depends on the rate of downlink availability of the satellites. This means satellites in lower orbits, or many more satellites in higher orbits, can provide more frequent “new” data to end users. CubeSats, or satellites about the size of a shoebox, could provide more coverage and better data frequency than larger satellites for lower cost if they are able to maintain their orbits for long durations (greater than 1-year).

This longevity requires a propulsion-equipped CubeSat bus to be developed for use in orbital remote sensing. The potential impacts of this technology are targeted towards the global satellite market and the downstream end-users of satellite data though there may be additional applications in biomedical and microfluidic markets as well.

This I-Corps project is based on the development of an entirely solid-state, flow-controlled, electric thruster system for use in CubeSats. This class of satellite is typically only in orbit for about a year and is rarely utilized for commercial space applications due to lack of propulsion capabilities and orbital limitations on lifetime. The core technology is a solid-state flow control device developed to offer the same level of fluid control and precision as is available on much larger, pressure-driven mechanical propulsion systems currently used on many much larger commercial satellites.

A digital microfluidic device has been researched, developed, and tested in a lab environment to confirm feasibility. This technology offers the ability to repeatably flow and stop flow of liquid propellants to electrospray thrusters in a vacuum environment without the need for much larger pressure systems or mechanical valves, minimizing the impact of previous scaling limitations for satellites.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.