HYDROS-C Water Electrolysis Thruster
Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (AMERGINT)
CubeSat-scale green water-electrolysis thruster: splits stored water into hydrogen/oxygen for bipropellant combustion, with flight units delivered including NASA's PTD mission.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Power
- 5 W
- Thrust
- 1.2 N
- Specific impulse
- 310 s
- Total impulse
- 2,151 N·s
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Specific impulse
- > 310 s
- Thrust
- > 1.2 N
- Power
- 5-25 W
- Total impulse
- > 2,151 Ns
- Water tank
- Customizable
- Flight status
- Flight units delivered; flying on NASA Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator (PTD)
- Orbit-Averaged Thrust
- 2.2 mN
- Thrust Efficiency
- 0.13 mN/W
- Dry Mass
- 2.2 kg
- Wet Mass
- 2.7 kg
- Time to Refill Gas Plenums
- 825 s
- Size
- 190 x 130 x 92 mm
- Power (MAX) W/ Heaters
- 5-25 W
- Power (Nominal MAX)
- 16 W
- Power (Standby)
- 3.5 W
- Qualification Level
- TRL 9
About
HYDROS is TUI’s hybrid electrical/chemical propulsion technology providing green, safe, high-thrust, high-fuel-economy propulsion using water as propellant, so it is safe for personnel during satellite integration and poses no significant risk to primary payloads during launch. Once on-orbit, HYDROS uses a zero-G electrolysis system to split water into hydrogen and oxygen for bipropellant combustion through a rocket nozzle, providing higher thrust efficiency at lower input power than electric propulsion, and higher specific impulse than monopropellant chemical propulsion. HYDROS-C is the CubeSat-sized configuration, with a customizable water tank sized to mission requirements and integrated avionics that simplify commanding and host-spacecraft integration. NASA is using TUI’s HYDROS-C unit on the first Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator (PTD) mission.
Documentation
Need the full ICD, test reports or a specific revision? Ask the supplier directly.