ASTRA SPACECRAFT ENGINE™️

Flight-proven electric propulsion systems for constellations

DESIGNED, MANUFACTURED, & TESTED FOR MAXIMUM RELIABILITY

The Astra Spacecraft Engine™️ (ASE) & Astra Spacecraft Engine Max (ASE Max) can be configured with multiple thrusters and PPUs to handle a wide range of missions, from the smallest earth observation satellites up to large communications satellites with multiple kilowatts of solar power.
Each system is delivered fully integrated and tested to reduce spacecraft development complexity, while improving on orbit reliability.

Example configurations shown

ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS

ASE

Xenon and Krypton electric propulsion system with a magnetically shielded thruster and best-in-class performance for spacecraft with less than 1 kW of power.

ASE DATA SHEET

PROPELLANT
Xenon OR Krypton

INPUT POWER
400 W

THRUST
~25 mN (Xe)
~18 mN (Kr)

SPECIFIC IMPULSE
~1,400 s (Xe)
~1,300 s (Kr)

TOTAL IMPULSE
300 kN-s (Xe)
300 kN-s (Kr)

PROPELLANTS

INPUT POWER

THRUST

SPECIFIC IMPULSE

TOTAL IMPULSE

ASE MAX

Xenon and Krypton electric propulsion system with a magnetically shielded thruster and 1.5 MN-s total impulse for spacecraft with more than 1 kW power.

ASE MAX DATA SHEET

PROPELLANT
Xenon OR Krypton

INPUT POWER
1,450 W

THRUST
~60 mN (Xe)
~54 mN (Kr)

SPECIFIC IMPULSE
~1,760 s (Xe)
~1,800 s (Kr)

TOTAL IMPULSE
1.5 MN-s

SYSTEM OVERVIEW

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COMPACT THRUSTER

Instant-start, heaterless, center-mounted cathode and permanent magnet design deliver high thrust and high Isp in a compact design which has been ground tested to 12,000 operational cycles.

RADIATION HARDENED POWER PROCESSING UNIT

The Power Processing Unit (PPU) is radiation hardened by design, replacing many microprocessors with simple and reliable components – creating a single circuit board design that is 95% efficient.

Increased radiation hardening extends system lifetimes and supports a broad range of LEO and GEO missions.

FEED SYSTEM WITH HERITAGE

Compact, bang-bang feed system with flight-proven components.

Each system is leak and vibration tested in an integrated system test to ensure on orbit reliability.

FLIGHT-PROVEN PROPELLANT TANK

Flight-proven, off-the-shelf propellant tanks meet a broad range of mission requirements without the high cost or long lead times of custom tanks.

Tanks are sized specifically to fit the unique requirements of each customer mission with flight-proven COPV construction rated to 4,000 psi.

MEETING MISSION DEMANDS WITH
MULTI-THRUSTER ASE CONFIGURATIONS

Need to go faster? Need to go farther? Need to do both? Multi-thruster ASE configurations allow you to build a system that meets your unique mission requirements. Select the number of thrusters that meet your delta-v requirement and choose a tank that meets your total impulse needs to build the best configuration for your constellation.

	2-STRING	3-STRING	4-STRING
INPUT POWER	800 W	1,200 W	1,600 W
THRUST	~50 mN = 25 mN x 2 (Xe) ~36 mN = 18 mN x 2 (Kr)	~75 mN = 25 mN x 3 (Xe) ~54 mN = 18 mN x 3 (Kr)	~100 mN = 25 mN x 4 (Xe) ~72 mN = 18 mN x 4 (Kr)
TOTAL IMPULSE	600 kN-s (Xe) 600 kN-s (Kr)	900 kN-s (Xe) 900 kN-s (Kr)	1,200 kN-s (Xe) 1,200 kN-s (Kr)