Aerojet Rocketdyne will develop a propulsion system for NASA‘s CubeSat miniature satellites under a contract from the Armstrong Flight Test Center’s flight opportunities.
The company said Tuesday the two-phased contract involves hot-fire testing on the MPS-120 CubeSat High-Impulse Adaptable Modular Propulsion System and flight demonstration if the agency selects Aerojet Rocketdyne’s chemical propulsion system.
“We’re honored that NASA has selected us to innovate a product that would give CubeSats substantial propulsion capabilities in space,” said Christian Carpenter, program manager for space advanced programs at Aerojet Rocketdyne.
The MPS-120 is intended to be a 1,000-cubic centimeter module of a CubeSat and compress components that include a propellant tank, an isolation system and four rocket engines.