ThrustMe

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ThrustMe
ThrustMe
IndustryAerospace
Founded3 February 2017; 4 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
11–20
Websitehttps://www.thrustme.fr/

ThrustMe is a deep tech company that designs miniature 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 de Paris and the CNRS as experts 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 orbited the first satellite using iodine for propulsion.[10]

In 2021, Spacety and ThrustMe achieved the first in-orbit demonstration of an electric propulsion system powered by iodine.[3][11][12]

Flight missions[]

  • 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.[13]
  • 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.[14] According to Rafalskyi, advanced orbital maneuvers would be carried out to test the satellite's full capabilities.[15]
  • 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.[16] It was launched onboard a Long March 8 rocket on 22 December 2020 for ocean research.[17][18]

Awards[]

  • French Tech Ticket, 2017.[19]
  • "Grand Prix i-LAB" of the 19th national competition to help the creation of innovative technology companies, 2017.[20]
  • "Prix de l'Excellence Française Innovation Spatiale", 2017.[21]
  • "Médaille de l’innovation du CNRS", for Ane Aanesland, 2019.[22][23]

References[]

  1. ^ Lestavel, Thomas (2019-04-17). "La start-up ThrustMe divise par trois les coûts d'accès à l'espace". Le Figaro.fr (in French). Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  2. ^ "How Iodine Electric Propulsion Systems Can Enable The Economic Sustainability Of Satellite Constellations". satmagazine.com. February 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "French startup demonstrates iodine propulsion in potential boost for space debris mitigation efforts". Spacenews. 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  4. ^ "Iodine Impulse for Smallsats Demo'd On-Orbit by ThrustMe and Spacety". Smallsat News. 2019-11-25. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  5. ^ "Un nouvel espace pour les start-up". La Jaune et la Rouge (in French). 2018-06-03. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  6. ^ Meddah, Hassan (2017-07-08). "ThrustMe emmène les minisatellites en orbite". L'Usine Nouvelle (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  7. ^ "French startup raises $1.9 million for smallsat electric propulsion". SpaceNews.com. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  8. ^ "Electric propulsion startup ThrustMe gets $2.8 million from European Commission". SpaceNews.com. 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  9. ^ "Ane Aanesland, de chercheuse au CNRS à CEO de ThrustMe | Bpifrance servir l'avenir". www.bpifrance.fr (in French). 10 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  10. ^ Couto, Alexandre (2019-11-04). "ThrustMe met en orbite le premier satellite utilisant de l'iode pour se propulser". Industry-techno (in French). Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  11. ^ "ThrustMe's Iodine Propulsion System Launched Aboard Spacety's Smallsat". Satnews. 2020-11-06. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  12. ^ "Iodine thruster could slow space junk accumulation". esa.int. 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  13. ^ Jones, Andrew (2019-11-25). "French startup ThrustMe found fast route to orbit through China's Spacety". Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  14. ^ [ThrustMe’s Iodine Propulsion System Launched Aboard Spacety’s Smallsat "ThrustMe's Iodine Propulsion System Launched Aboard Spacety's Smallsat"] Check |url= value (help). Sat News. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  15. ^ Werner, Debra (6 November 2020). "Spacety launches satellite to test ThrustMe iodine electric propulsion and constellation technologies". Space News. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  16. ^ Jones, Andrew (2020-03-25). "China launches first Long March 8 from Wenchang spaceport". Spacenews. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  17. ^ "Imagery from Hisea-1 SAR Satellite Unveiled". 2020-12-30. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  18. ^ "Iodine Electric Propulsion To Become A Critical Subsystem For SAR Constellations". Sat News. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Les 70 startups internationales lauréates du french tech ticket saison 2" (PDF). finances.gouv.fr (in French). 2017-03-07. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  20. ^ "Quatre projets lauréats du Concours i-LAB 2017 (dont un Grand Prix) sont accompagnés par la SATT Paris-Saclay" (PDF) (in French). SATT Paris-Saclay. 2017-07-07. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  21. ^ "Palmarès Spécial Innovation Spatiale 2017 -". Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  22. ^ Poncet, Guerric (2019-11-28). "Ane Aanesland, la mécano de l'espace". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  23. ^ Koppe, Martin (2019-12-09). "Four Aces for Innovation". news.cnrs.fr (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-26.
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