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The aim, they say, is to make spacecraft more resilient and maneuverable at faster delivery rates and lower costs, for both governmental and commercial customers. And also to provide the American space industry with a local source of satellite thrusters.
Terran Orbital – headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida – is a small satellite manufacturer and the French company Safran Spacecraft Propulsion – based in Vernon near Paris – specialises in plasma propulsion.
Specifically, the companies say they will undertake an “in-depth analysis to determine the technical, industrial and economic prerequisites” for a U.S.-based production line, with the Terran Orbital facility in Irvine, California being under consideration, which currently produces microsatellites.
The plan is that this new line will match Safran’s own production facilities in France, eventually doubling the company’s international production capacity.
Manoeuvrability
Safran’s PPSX00 plasma thrusters, rated at about one kilowatt of power, will be used for the mobility requirements of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
The challenges are twofold. First, the international regulations stipulating greater sustainability and resilience in spacecraft. Also, a higher degree of spacecraft manoeuvrability is needed to avoid collisions, they highlight, along with a system to deorbit the satellites at the end of their service life.
“Our alliance with Terran Orbital will contribute to the emergence of a complementary source of supply for electric propulsion systems to meet the growing needs of the space industry,” said Jean-Marie Bétermier, Senior vp Space at Safran Electronics & Defense.
The announcement was made at the recent Paris Air Show, at the Paris–Le Bourget Airport.
Pictured above is a rendering of the PPSX00 plasma thruster, which Safran Spacecraft Propulsion showed at the International Astronautical Congress in France in September 2022.
Image: Safran
See also: Terran Orbital wins $2.4bn contract to build Rivada Space Networks constellation
