Company:ThrustMe

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ThrustMe
ThrustMe
IndustryAerospace
Founded3 February 2017; 7 years ago (2017-02-03)
FounderAne Aanesland, Dmytro Rafalskyi
Headquarters
Verrières-le-Buisson
,
France
Key people
Ane Aanesland (CEO), Dmytro Rafalskyi (CTO)
ProductsSpacecraft propulsion
Number of employees
21–50
Websitehttps://www.thrustme.fr/

ThrustMe is a deep tech company that designs miniaturized aerospace thrusters for small satellites, increasing the life of satellites and making them more affordable.[1][2]

The company builds gridded ion thrusters (NPT30)[3] and cold gas thrusters (I2T5).[4]

History

ThrustMe was founded in 2017 by Ane Aanesland and Dmytro Rafalskyi, who previously worked at the École Polytechnique and CNRS as researchers in plasma physics and electric propulsion.[5] Initially, the startup was incubated in Agoranov.[6] Also in 2017, ThrustMe raised 1.7 million euros for its development.[7]

In 2018, ThrustMe received €2.4 million from the European Commission to commercialise electric propulsion for nanosatellites.[8]

In 2019, Ane Aanesland received the CNRS innovation medal for her entrepreneurial activities.[9] The same year, SpaceTy and ThrustMe maneuvered for the first time a satellite using iodine as propellant, with a cold-gas thruster.[10]

In 2021, ThrustMe, in partnership with SpaceTy, achieved the first in-orbit demonstration of an electric propulsion system powered by iodine.[3][11][12] The results were published as a research article in the journal Nature, where the maneuvers described resulted in a cumulative altitude change above 3 km.[13][14]

According to the European Space Agency, in regard to the use of iodine rather than Xenon in a gridded ion thruster, "This small but potentially disruptive innovation could help to clear the skies of space junk, by enabling tiny satellites to self-destruct cheaply and easily at the end of their missions, by steering themselves into the atmosphere where they would burn up."[15]

Flight missions

Ongoing

  • XiaoXiang 1-08 is a six-unit cubesat developed by Chinese satellite company Spacety. It carries ThrustMe's I2T5 non-pressurized cold gas thruster, the first in existence.[16]
  • BeiHangKongshi-1 is a 12-unit cubesat developed by Spacety. The satellite carries ThrustMe's NPT30-I2-1U, the first iodine electric propulsion system sent into space.[3] The cubesat was launched onboard the Long March 6 on 6 November 2020.[17] According to Rafalskyi, advanced orbital maneuvers would be carried out to test the satellite's full capabilities.[18]
  • Hisea-1 is a 180-kilogram SAR minisatellite. It is the first generation of light, small SAR satellites developed by Spacety carrying a NPT30-I2-1U for orbit maintenance, collision avoidance, and end-of-life deorbiting.[19] It was launched on board a Long March 8 rocket on 22 December 2020 for ocean research.[20][21]

Announced

  • NorSat-TD is a microsatellite developed by the UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) for the Norwegian space agency.[22] The satellite is scheduled to be launched in the first quarter of 2022.[23]
  • GOMX-5 is a 12U cubesat built by GomSpace for the European Space Agency to perform a technology demonstration mission.[24] The launch is scheduled for 2021.[25]
  • INSPIRESat-4/ARCADE is a 27U spacecraft built by NTU, Jülich Research Centre, LASP, IISST and NCU. The satellite aims to flight in the VLEO (Very Low Earth Orbit) region to make in-situ Ionospheric plasma measurements.[26] The thruster is expected to lower the orbit of the satellite to less than 300 km and enable the mission to survive at this altitude for a duration of 6 months or more. The launch is scheduled for 2022.[27]

Awards

  • French Tech Ticket, 2017.[28]
  • "Grand Prix i-LAB" of the 19th national competition to help the creation of innovative technology companies, 2017.[29]
  • "Prix de l'Excellence Française Innovation Spatiale", 2017.[30]
  • "Médaille de l’innovation du CNRS", for Ane Aanesland, 2019.[31][32]

References

  1. ↑ Lestavel, Thomas (2019-04-17). "La start-up ThrustMe divise par trois les coûts d'accès à l'espace" (in fr). https://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/la-start-up-thrustme-divise-par-trois-les-couts-d-acces-a-l-espace-20190417. 
  2. ↑ "How Iodine Electric Propulsion Systems Can Enable The Economic Sustainability Of Satellite Constellations." (in en). February 2021. http://www.satmagazine.com/story.php?number=1467816246. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "French startup demonstrates iodine propulsion in potential boost for space debris mitigation efforts" (in en). 2020-03-25. https://spacenews.com/french-startup-demonstrates-iodine-propulsion-in-potential-boost-for-space-debris-mitigation-efforts/. 
  4. ↑ "Iodine Impulse for Smallsats Demo'd On-Orbit by ThrustMe and Spacety" (in en). 2019-11-25. https://smallsatnews.com/2019/11/25/iodine-impulse-for-smallsats-demod-on-orbit-by-thrustme-and-spacety/. 
  5. ↑ "Un nouvel espace pour les start-up" (in fr-FR). 2018-06-03. https://www.lajauneetlarouge.com/un-nouvel-espace-pour-les-start-up/. 
  6. ↑ Meddah, Hassan (2017-07-08). "ThrustMe emmène les minisatellites en orbite" (in fr-FR). L'Usine Nouvelle. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/thrustme-emmene-les-minisatellites-en-orbite.N561073. Retrieved 2021-07-26. 
  7. ↑ "French startup raises $1.9 million for smallsat electric propulsion" (in en-US). 2017-06-16. https://spacenews.com/french-startup-raises-1-9-million-for-smallsat-electric-propulsion/. 
  8. ↑ "Electric propulsion startup ThrustMe gets $2.8 million from European Commission" (in en-US). 2018-08-09. https://spacenews.com/electric-propulsion-startup-thrustme-gets-2-8-million-from-european-commission/. 
  9. ↑ "Ane Aanesland, de chercheuse au CNRS à CEO de ThrustMe | Bpifrance servir l'avenir" (in fr-FR). 10 July 2019. https://www.bpifrance.fr/A-la-une/Actualites/Ane-Aanesland-de-chercheuse-au-CNRS-a-CEO-de-ThrustMe-47146. 
  10. ↑ Couto, Alexandre (2019-11-04). "ThrustMe met en orbite le premier satellite utilisant de l'iode pour se propulser" (in fr-FR). Industry-techno. https://www.industrie-techno.com/article/thrustme-met-en-orbite-le-premier-satellite-propulse-par-de-l-iode.57909. Retrieved 2020-04-23. 
  11. ↑ "ThrustMe's Iodine Propulsion System Launched Aboard Spacety's Smallsat" (in en). 2020-11-06. https://news.satnews.com/2020/11/06/thrustmes-iodine-propulsion-system-launched-aboard-spacetys-smallsat/. 
  12. ↑ "Iodine thruster could slow space junk accumulation" (in en). 2021-01-22. https://www.esa.int/Applications/Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/Iodine_thruster_could_slow_space_junk_accumulation. 
  13. ↑ Rafalskyi, Dmytro; Martínez Martínez, Javier; Habl, Lui; Zorzoli Rossi, Elena; Proynov, Plamen; Boré, Antoine; Baret, Thomas; Poyet, Antoine et al. (17 November 2021). "In-orbit demonstration of an iodine electric propulsion system". Nature 599 (7885): 411–415. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04015-y. PMID 34789903. "Both atomic and molecular iodine ions are accelerated by high-voltage grids to generate thrust, and a highly collimated beam can be produced with substantial iodine dissociation.". 
  14. ↑ Ravisetti, Monisha (18 November 2021). "In a space first, scientists test ion thrusters powered by iodine". Red Ventures. https://www.cnet.com/news/in-a-space-first-scientists-test-ion-thrusters-powered-by-iodine/. 
  15. ↑ "Iodine thruster used to change the orbit of a small satellite for the first time ever". The European Space Agency. 22 January 2021. https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/01/Iodine_thruster_used_to_change_the_orbit_of_a_small_satellite_for_the_first_time_ever#.YaUuCq-kYyQ.link. 
  16. ↑ Jones, Andrew (2019-11-25). "French startup ThrustMe found fast route to orbit through China's Spacety" (in en). https://spacenews.com/french-startup-thrustme-found-fast-route-to-orbit-through-chinas-spacety/. 
  17. ↑ "ThrustMe's Iodine Propulsion System Launched Aboard Spacety's Smallsat". Sat News. 6 November 2020. https://news.satnews.com/2020/11/06/thrustmes-iodine-propulsion-system-launched-aboard-spacetys-smallsat/. 
  18. ↑ Werner, Debra (6 November 2020). "Spacety launches satellite to test ThrustMe iodine electric propulsion and constellation technologies". Space News. https://spacenews.com/thrustme-2020-demonstration/. 
  19. ↑ Jones, Andrew (2020-03-25). "China launches first Long March 8 from Wenchang spaceport" (in en). https://spacenews.com/china-launches-first-long-march-8-from-wenchang-spaceport/. 
  20. ↑ "Imagery from Hisea-1 SAR Satellite Unveiled" (in en). 2020-12-30. https://en.spacety.com/index.php/2021/01/04/imagery-from-worlds-first-c-band-commercial-smallsat-sar-hisea-1-satellite-unveiled/. 
  21. ↑ "Iodine Electric Propulsion To Become A Critical Subsystem For SAR Constellations". Sat News. 3 January 2021. https://news.satnews.com/2021/01/03/iodine-electric-propulsion-to-become-a-critical-subsystem-for-sar-constellations/. 
  22. ↑ "Norway Selects Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) to Develop Technology Demonstrator Microsatellite | UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory". https://www.utias-sfl.net/?p=3543. 
  23. ↑ Romsenter, Norsk. "Agreement signed with the Netherlands for Norway's new satellite". https://www.romsenter.no/eng/News/News/Agreement-signed-with-the-Netherlands-for-Norway-s-new-satellite. 
  24. ↑ "ESA and GomSpace sign contract for continuation of the GOMX-5 mission" (in en). https://news.cision.com/gomspace-a-s/r/esa-and-gomspace-sign-contract-for-continuation-of-the-gomx-5-mission,c3202464. 
  25. ↑ "GOMX 5A, 5B" (in en). https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/gomx-5.htm. 
  26. ↑ "INSPIRESAT-4/ARCADE : a VLEO mission for atmospheric temperature measurements and ionospheric plasma characterization" (in en). https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/handle/10356/148434. 
  27. ↑ "INSPIRESat-4" (in en). https://lasp.colorado.edu/home/inspire/inspiresat-4/. 
  28. ↑ "Les 70 startups internationales lauréates du french tech ticket saison 2" (in fr-FR). 2017-03-07. p. 27. http://proxy-pubminefi.diffusion.finances.gouv.fr/pub/document/18/22243.pdf. 
  29. ↑ "Quatre projets lauréats du Concours i-LAB 2017 (dont un Grand Prix) sont accompagnés par la SATT Paris-Saclay" (in fr-FR). SATT Paris-Saclay. 2017-07-07. https://www.satt.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CP_Concours-i-Lab-SATT-Paris-Saclay.pdf. 
  30. ↑ "Palmarès Spécial Innovation Spatiale 2017 -" (in en-FR). http://excellencefrancaise.com/fr/laureats/2017-laureats/palmares-special-2017/#gallery-9. 
  31. ↑ Poncet, Guerric (2019-11-28). "Ane Aanesland, la mécano de l'espace" (in fr-FR). https://www.lepoint.fr/sciences-nature/ane-aanesland-la-mecano-de-l-espace-28-11-2019-2350191_1924.php. 
  32. ↑ Koppe, Martin (2019-12-09). "Four Aces for Innovation" (in fr-FR). https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/four-aces-for-innovation. 



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