Downstream view
of ThrustMe’s
NPT30-I 2 iodine ion
thruster firing in a
vacuum chamber.42 March/April 2022
PHOTO^ ILLUSTRATIONCREATED^ BY^ ALYSE^ MARKEL^ USING^ THRUSTME^ (THRUSTER)Space
9
// BY JENNIFER LEM A N //Iodine-Powered
Satellites
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Low-Earth Orbit
T
HE NUMBER OF SMALL SATELLITES
placed in Earth’s orbit has been steadily
increasing over the past decade—up from
39 launches in 2011 to 1,202 in 2020—
and the pace continues to accelerate. In
the coming decades, satellite operators
such as OneWeb, SpaceX, and Amazon
plan to launch tens of thousands of satellites into
orbit to enhance broadband internet coverage
around the globe.
Typically, the electric propulsion systems that
power these small satellites rely on pricey gas
propellants like xenon or krypton, which are in
short supply. “If you do the numbers, there is just
not enough xenon available for xenon propul-
sion systems on all these satellites,” says Trevor
Lafleur, Ph.D., a plasma physicist and princi-
pal engineer at the French space firm ThrustMe.
Laf leur and his colleagues are part of a broader