Dawn Aerospace Green Chemical Propulsion Thrusters (B1, B5, B20, B200)

Dawn Aerospace’s ‘green’ chemical propulsion thrusters utilize a bi-propellant system of nitrous oxide (N₂O) and propene (C₃H₆) to provide reliable thrust. This non-toxic approach eliminates the handling risks, costs, and operational complexities associated with traditional toxic fuels like hydrazine. The product line includes the flight-ready B1 (1 N) and B20 (20 N) thrusters, with the B5 (5 N) and B200 (200 N) currently in development and available for order. These thrusters are designed to simplify spacecraft operations, from ground integration to on-orbit performance.

The B20 Thruster is a 20 N green chemical thruster suitable for larger orbit changes and delta-V missions for bigger ‘small satellites,’ including Lunar and Deep space missions. It features an integrated thruster, valves, and control electronics, an additively manufactured Inconel 718 thruster body, health monitoring instrumentation, and standard power and data interfaces. It is operable under ambient conditions for fast ground testing and has a flight heritage of 100+ successfully launched units.

The B1 Thruster is a 1 N class thruster designed for fine attitude control and small maneuvers, particularly for CubeSats and small satellites. It serves as a core propulsion element in Dawn’s CubeDrive modules and can be clustered for full 6-axis control. Like the B20, it includes integrated thruster, valves, and control electronics, an additively manufactured Inconel 718 thruster body, and standard power and data interfaces. It is also operable under ambient conditions for fast ground testing and has a flight heritage of 50+ successfully launched units on CubeSats and small satellites.

The B5 (5 N) and B200 (200 N) thrusters extend Dawn’s flight-proven green chemical propulsion architecture to higher thrust classes, designed for responsive maneuvering, refueling compatibility, and scalable mission performance. All thrusters are self-pressurizing, eliminating the need for separate pressurization systems and regulators, which enhances reliability by reducing parts and interfaces. They are cold-start capable, pulse-mode capable, and feature spark ignition, removing the need for catalysts. The non-toxic nature of the propellants makes them easy to handle, lowers risk, and makes them ride-share friendly. The thrusters are scalable for satellites ranging from 30 kg to 500+ kg and are LOOP refueling network capable.