French rocket startup signs Spanish rocket engine startup to provide attitude thrusters
The French rocket startup MaiaSpace, a subsidiary of Airbus, has awarded the Spanish rocket engine startup Arkadia Space a contract to provide the small attitude thrusters used to maintain the rocket’s course.
MaiaSpace hopes to do its first test orbital launch of its smallsat rocket in 2026, launching from a new commercial launchpad at French Guiana.
Arkadia’s thrusters are somewhat radical.
Arkadia Space, founded in 2020 in Castellón, Spain, develops hydrogen peroxide-based propellant systems for satellites and platforms with a mass of more than 50 kilograms. “The hydrogen peroxide-based propellant offers exceptional performance while significantly reducing cost and environmental impact compared to traditional hydrazine-based Reaction Control Systems,” according to the news release.
Hydrazine thrusters, while practical and lightweight, have the problem that the fuel is very toxic, and requires safety precautions to prevent injury to employees or the public. Using hydrogen peroxide instead likely reduces this issue significantly.
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The French rocket startup MaiaSpace, a subsidiary of Airbus, has awarded the Spanish rocket engine startup Arkadia Space a contract to provide the small attitude thrusters used to maintain the rocket’s course.
MaiaSpace hopes to do its first test orbital launch of its smallsat rocket in 2026, launching from a new commercial launchpad at French Guiana.
Arkadia’s thrusters are somewhat radical.
Arkadia Space, founded in 2020 in Castellón, Spain, develops hydrogen peroxide-based propellant systems for satellites and platforms with a mass of more than 50 kilograms. “The hydrogen peroxide-based propellant offers exceptional performance while significantly reducing cost and environmental impact compared to traditional hydrazine-based Reaction Control Systems,” according to the news release.
Hydrazine thrusters, while practical and lightweight, have the problem that the fuel is very toxic, and requires safety precautions to prevent injury to employees or the public. Using hydrogen peroxide instead likely reduces this issue significantly.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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