CHIPS — CubeSat High Impulse Propulsion System
CU Aerospace
Miniaturized warm-gas resistojet propulsion system for CubeSats with integrated main thruster and 3-axis ACS.
Typed specifications61 values
Discloses 8 of 11 fields engineers filter by in this category (category median 3).
- Propulsion family
- electric resistojet · datasheet p.1 electric warm gas resistojet; also cold-gas mode
- Mass
- 1.03 kg datasheet p.2 3.13 kg CHIPS-1000, system wet mass | 1.03 kg CHIPS-180, system wet mass | 1.84 kg CHIPS-500, system wet mass | 277 g Propellant Mass
- Thrust
- 21 mN CHIPS-1000, cold gas · datasheet p.1 31 mN CHIPS-1000, warm gas | 15 mN CHIPS-180, cold gas | 15 mN CHIPS-180, warm gas | 18 mN CHIPS-500, cold gas +3
- Envelope (L×W×H)
- 10 cm x 9 cm x 6 cm datasheet p.1
- Specific impulse
- 46 s CHIPS-1000, cold gas · datasheet p.1 70 s CHIPS-1000, warm gas | 45 s CHIPS-180, cold gas | 67 s CHIPS-180, warm gas | 46 s CHIPS-500, cold gas +3
- Total impulse
- 180 N·s datasheet p.1 715 N·s CHIPS-1000, cold gas | 1 030 N·s CHIPS-1000, warm gas | 118 N·s CHIPS-180, cold gas | 176 N·s CHIPS-180, warm gas +4
- Propellant
- R134a datasheet p.1 R236fa alternate | R134a baseline | R236fa
- Power consumption
- 20 W thrusting · datasheet p.2
- Design lifetime
- 3 years min · from propellant load · datasheet p.3 3 years min · life span from propellant load (3+)
- Thruster technology
- warm gas or resistojet datasheet p.1
- Thrusters in the unit
- 9 0.54U CHIPS with 1 primary & 8 ACS thrusters · datasheet p.2
- Volume
- 0.54 U CHIPS-180 · datasheet p.1
- Number of starts or pulses
- 120 000 000 min · valve actuations (>120 million) · datasheet p.1
- Min impulse bit
- 0.1 mN·s max · datasheet p.2 0.1 mN·s max · CHIPS-1000 (< 0.1) | 0.1 mN·s max · CHIPS-180 (< 0.1) | 0.1 mN·s max · CHIPS-500 (< 0.1)
- Propellant mass (full load)
- 277 g datasheet p.2 1.51 kg CHIPS-1000 | 277 g CHIPS-180 | 770 g CHIPS-500
- Power at thrust
- 30 W CHIPS-1000, when thrusting · datasheet p.1 20 W CHIPS-180, when thrusting | 25 W CHIPS-500, when thrusting
- Time to thrust
- 600 s max continuous thrust time · datasheet p.2
- Max continuous burn
- 600 s CHIPS-1000, maximum continuous thrust time · datasheet p.1 600 s CHIPS-180, maximum continuous thrust time | 600 s CHIPS-500, maximum continuous thrust time
- Satellite class
- CubeSat datasheet p.1
- Thrust vector control
- multi-thruster differential up to 8 ACS thrusters, 6DOF · datasheet p.1
Each value is typed with its unit and measurement condition and cites the datasheet page it was taken from. Nothing is guessed: a field that is absent here has not been published by the manufacturer. machine-extracted ✓ checked by NewSpace Market ✓ manufacturer confirmed by the manufacturer.
As published by the supplier9 lines, in the manufacturer's own wording
- Thruster type
- Warm-gas resistojet (superheater)
- Specific impulse (Isp)
- 40–50% higher than cold-gas Isp
- Total impulse (CHIPS-180)
- 180 N-s
- Package size (without ACS)
- As small as 0.3U
- Package size (with ACS)
- As small as 0.6U
- Propellants
- R134a (refrigerant), R236fa (range safety approved); non-toxic, inert, self-pressurizing
- Acs
- Up to 8 ACS thrusters, 6 DOF
- Valve cycles
- >120 million actuations proven
- Compatible platforms
- 3U or larger CubeSats
About
CU Aerospace’s CHIPS (CubeSat High Impulse Propulsion System) is a miniaturized, well-integrated propulsion solution for small satellites, combining a main thruster and a three-axis attitude control system (ACS). Utilizing CUA’s high-efficiency resistojet (superheater) technology with non-toxic, inert propellants (R134a refrigerant, R236fa), CHIPS provides a specific impulse 40–50% higher than cold-gas systems in a compact, low-risk package. The all-welded CHIPS-180 variant is an ultra-compact 0.54U fully throttleable system with 180 N-s of total impulse. Waste heat from the electronics and resistojet is regeneratively recovered to evaporate propellant, resulting in less than 1°C system temperature rise over ten-minute operating cycles. Proven valving has been cycled to greater than 120 million actuations. The ACS can be expanded to full 6 degrees of freedom with up to eight ACS thrusters. CHIPS can be customized in size and can also be packaged as a cold-gas-only system for reduced power requirements.
Documentation
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