Solar Electric Upper Stage Development Funded by SBIR Grant
NASA has awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to ExoTerra Resource for continued development of its solar electric propulsion upper stage. ExoTerra Resource is working with launch services provider Virgin Orbit on the project.
“Small satellites have become powerful tools for business, research and education, and they too deserve an affordable, flexible route to space beyond just LEO.”
Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart.
The solar electric upper stage will be able to deliver 150 kg (330 pounds) of payload to cis-lunar orbit and 180 kg (400 pounds) to Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), as well as enable exciting interplanetary missions — opening up a path to space beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for small satellites.
“ExoTerra is excited to work with NASA and Virgin Orbit to enable microsatellites and micro-landers to reach GEO, the Moon and interplanetary destinations from responsive small launch vehicles. We believe this capability will open up opportunities for rapid, affordable missions throughout the inner solar system and GEO,” said ExoTerra’s CEO Michael VanWoerkom.
Virgin Orbit is acting as a commercial infusion partner with ExoTerra on this solar electric upper stage program, as the company is pushing technology forward to provide the most flexible launch services in the world. The team is working both internally and with partners like ExoTerra to provide a full suite of capabilities for customers interested in sending high-performing payloads to LEO, deep space, and everything in between.
“This award falls squarely on our development roadmap. It’s an exciting technology that we’re looking forward to integrating with LauncherOne in order to better serve customers across a broad set of communities: scientific, academic, government, commercial, and more,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. “Small satellites have become powerful tools for business, research and education, and they too deserve an affordable, flexible route to space beyond just LEO.”
ExoTerra's Halo line of micro Hall Effect Thrusters deliver high efficiency propulsion for missions ranging from CubeSat to Smallsat scale. The company's systems are slated to fly on several missions with NASA, DoD and commercial customers in the next year.
(Source: Virgin Orbit news release. Image from file)