Flight-proven Hall-effect electric propulsion system for small satellites, operating on xenon or krypton with scalable multi-thruster configurations.
Astra Satellite Engine (ASE)
Flight-proven Hall-effect electric propulsion system for small satellites, operating on xenon or krypton with scalable multi-thruster configurations.
Description
The Astra Satellite Engine (ASE) is a flight-proven electric propulsion system designed for constellation-class small satellites. Based on a magnetically shielded Hall-effect thruster, it operates on either xenon (Xe) or krypton (Kr) propellant and is optimized for spacecraft with less than 1 kW of available input power. The engine delivers approximately 25 mN of thrust on xenon and 18 mN on krypton, with a specific impulse of ~1,400 s (Xe) or ~1,300 s (Kr) and a total impulse of 300 kN-s per thruster string. For missions requiring higher delta-v, the ASE supports scalable multi-thruster configurations: 2-string (up to ~50 mN / 600 kN-s), 3-string (up to ~75 mN / 900 kN-s), and 4-string (up to ~100 mN / 1,200 kN-s) assemblies. Astra has shipped over 110 satellite engines and the system has demonstrated flight heritage on orbit.
Specifications
| Propellant | Xenon (Xe) or Krypton (Kr) |
|---|---|
| Input power | 400 W (single string) |
| Thrust (Xe) | ~25 mN |
| Thrust (Kr) | ~18 mN |
| Specific impulse (Xe) | ~1,400 s |
| Specific impulse (Kr) | ~1,300 s |
| Total impulse (Xe, single) | 300 kN-s |
| Total impulse (Kr, single) | 300 kN-s |
| Multi-thruster options | 2-string, 3-string, 4-string configurations available |
| Thruster type | Magnetically shielded Hall-effect thruster |
| Flight heritage | Yes — 110+ engines shipped and on-orbit |
