CU Aerospace

CU Aerospace (CUA) is an aerospace engineering company specializing in the development, manufacturing, and testing of propulsion systems and space hardware for small satellites. Founded in Champaign, Illinois, CUA focuses on small spacecraft propulsion with a portfolio spanning chemical warm-gas resistojets, pulsed plasma thrusters, monofilament vaporization propulsion, and advanced electric propulsion systems including VLEO air-breathing magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thrusters.

CUA's propulsion systems use non-toxic, inert propellants and are designed for high reliability, compact integration into CubeSat and ESPA-class platforms, and maximum mission flexibility. Products such as CHIPS (CubeSat High Impulse Propulsion System) and FPPT (Fiber-Fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster) have been flight-proven, including through NASA demonstrations. CUA was awarded a multi-million dollar contract for VLEO air-breathing MPD thruster development and has participated in NASA's DUPLEX CubeSat mission to test innovative propulsion technologies in orbit.

In addition to propulsion hardware, CUA develops mission optimization software for spacecraft trajectory optimization covering both high-thrust and low-thrust propulsion systems, and provides engineering services for space hardware design and development.