Monopropellant Micropropulsion System for CubeSats

Stellar Exploration Inc. has developed a high performance Hydrazine Monopropellant Micro Propulsion system for use with CubeSats with focus on manufacturability and affordability. The 1kg micropropulsion system will be coupled to one or two additional 1kg CubeSat units making an overall 2-3kg two or three unit CubeSat system compatible with California Polytechnic State University’s P-POD deployment system. The micro propulsion system includes four 1.5 Newton thrusters arranged appropriately to control roll, pitch, yaw and axial translation. The monopropellant micropropulsion system required many innovations in order to miniaturize it to meet the geometric and mass requirements of CubeSats. These innovations include the use of specially designed catalysts, micro solenoid thruster valves and micro machined combustion chamber and nozzle. This paper outlines the decision processes involved in choosing the type and configuration of the micro prolusion system as well as a detailed description of the innovations leading to a functional system. Future improvements and lessons learned from development will also be discussed and concluded with the micro propulsion test results