MEPE Pulsed Plasma Thruster Array
Aurora Propulsion Technologies
Miniaturized pulsed plasma thruster array for CubeSats — flight-proven on multiple missions (Foresail-1, STRIDER), attitude control and station-keeping, sub-100 g, RS-485 interface.
Technical specifications
- Thruster type
- Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT)
- Propellant
- Solid Teflon (PTFE)
- Mass per unit
- < 100 g
- Interface
- RS-485
- Applications
- Attitude control, station-keeping
- TRL
- 9 (Foresail-1, STRIDER flight heritage)
About
MEPE (Miniaturized Electric Propulsion Engine) is Aurora Propulsion Technologies’ pulsed plasma thruster array designed for CubeSat and small satellite attitude control and station-keeping. The solid Teflon propellant requires no pressurized tanks, making MEPE compliant with CubeSat launch restrictions. Flight-proven on Foresail-1 (Aalto University, launched 2022) and STRIDER (ORB-12, 2023), MEPE has demonstrated in-orbit plasma generation and impulse delivery. The thruster array is capable of 6-DOF attitude control when installed in appropriate configurations. Mass is under 100 g per thruster unit with RS-485 communication interface.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.
