<p>Space transportation firm, the city-based Bellatrix Aerospace, has tested arguably the country’s first privately built Hall Thruster, an electric propulsion system for satellites.</p>.<p>The company had earlier developed a commercial Microwave Plasma Thruster, which used water as fuel, claimed to be the world’s first. The firm had bagged an order from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for the commercial thruster.</p>.<p>Tests on the Low Power Hall Thruster were carried out inside an ultra-high vacuum facility at the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Laboratory that Bellatrix has set up at its laboratory in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).</p>.<p>The vacuum test facility simulates the harsh space environments that satellites have to withstand in space.</p>.<p>Rohan M Ganapthy, the company’s chief executive officer, said: “The company has been working on this technology in stealth mode for the last four years to take it from the drawing board to qualification levels.”</p>.<p>The thruster is ideal for microsatellites weighing 50kg to 500kg and can be scaled up for heavier satellites. It also forms a critical technology for the space taxi that the company is developing.</p>.<p>Bellatrix had earlier announced collaborations with other space companies, Satsure, Skyroot Aerospace and Dhruva Space on its ambitious Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) mission.</p>
<p>Space transportation firm, the city-based Bellatrix Aerospace, has tested arguably the country’s first privately built Hall Thruster, an electric propulsion system for satellites.</p>.<p>The company had earlier developed a commercial Microwave Plasma Thruster, which used water as fuel, claimed to be the world’s first. The firm had bagged an order from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for the commercial thruster.</p>.<p>Tests on the Low Power Hall Thruster were carried out inside an ultra-high vacuum facility at the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Laboratory that Bellatrix has set up at its laboratory in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).</p>.<p>The vacuum test facility simulates the harsh space environments that satellites have to withstand in space.</p>.<p>Rohan M Ganapthy, the company’s chief executive officer, said: “The company has been working on this technology in stealth mode for the last four years to take it from the drawing board to qualification levels.”</p>.<p>The thruster is ideal for microsatellites weighing 50kg to 500kg and can be scaled up for heavier satellites. It also forms a critical technology for the space taxi that the company is developing.</p>.<p>Bellatrix had earlier announced collaborations with other space companies, Satsure, Skyroot Aerospace and Dhruva Space on its ambitious Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) mission.</p>
