ESA and GomSpace sign contract to develop miniaturized electric propulsion system
Today, GomSpace’s subsidiary in Sweden and ESA have signed a contract to develop a miniaturized electric propulsion system suitable for small spacecrafts going on interplanetary missions.
The contract will be carried out under ESA’s General Support Technology Program during the next 18 months, and the value is EUR 700,000.
The work will be led by GomSpace Sweden and executed together with ASP Equipment and IMS Space Consultancy.
Small satellites are also being considered in the frame of interplanetary science missions, and in case the small spacecraft is not hitch-hiking on a mother craft, reliable high-performance propulsion is a necessity. In this project, the goal is to develop an electric propulsion system that can take a 20-40 kg class spacecraft from the edge of the Earth’s gravitational field to an asteroid.
“This is an important step in expanding our propulsion capabilities. Providing such small spacecraft with its own propulsion capability of this caliber will significantly reduce the cost to perform interplanetary missions. Furthermore, such a propulsion capability will also find several applications on the commercial market in Earth orbits as well,” says CEO, Niels Buus, from GomSpace.
The project will expand GomSpace’s propulsion capabilities to span both cold-gas technology for station-keeping, collision avoidance and maneuvering as well as electric propulsion technology for orbit changes, e.g. for safely disposing of spacecraft after the end of a mission.
For more information, please contact:
Niels Buus (CEO)
Tel: +45 40 31 55 57
E-mail: nbu @ gomspace.com
About GomSpace Group AB
The company’s business operations are mainly conducted through the wholly-owned Danish subsidiary, GomSpace A/S, with operational office in Aalborg, Denmark. GomSpace is a space company with a mission to be engaged in the global market for space systems and services by introducing new products, i.e. components, platforms and systems based on innovation within professional nanosatellites. The company is listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier exchange under the ticker GOMX. FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46-8-528 00 399 is the Company’s Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit our website on www.gomspace.com.
Miscellaneous
This information is information that GomSpace is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, 11:00 a.m. CET on 29 October 2019.
Please note that the view expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency.
