Jay Clemens
An Aerojet Rocketdyne subsidiary has tested a five-kilowatt Hall Thruster in the U.K. with a Thales Alenia Space-built power processing unit.
European Space Propulsion will next transfer the production capability of the XR-5 thruster from Aerojet Rocketdyne and develop the XR-5E, Aerojet Rocketdyne said Wednesday.
Paul Sinton, managing director of European Space Propulsion, said the test marks the first step of providing a five-kilowatt Hall Thruster system for the European market.
European Space Propulsion will also establish an electric propulsion design, manufacturing and testing capability and business environment under the European Space Agency advanced research in telecommunications systems program.
The company received $12.08 million from the European Space Agency in March 2015 to test the five-kilowatt XR-5E Hall Thruster.
