SBIR/STTR Research Award
Green Monopropellant CubeSat Propulsion System
Award amount
$747,137Program and phase
SBIR · Phase IIAward year
2019Award details
- Awarding agency
- Department of Defense
- Branch
- Air Force
- Recipient company
- BUSEK CO., INC.
- Proposal award date
- 2019-05-29
- Contract end date
- 2021-05-29
- UEI
- SATYSBWG3FL7
- Solicitation number
- 15.1
- Topic code
- AF151-066
Research abstract
Busek proposes to develop and a deliver a TRL-5, 1U CubeSat green monopropellant propulsion system fueled by AF-M315E. The integrated system will be hot-fire tested and environmentally tested to achieve Protoflight maturity. The system will be an upgraded version of the existing, proof-of-concept hardware. A system-level thermal analysis will be performed to validate the thermal management approach during hot-fire and soak-back scenarios. The hardware upgrade will include more robust plumbing and a newly-designed 0.5N microthruster capable of prolonged duty cycle and full-tank throughput. The integrated system, including power electronics and a post-launch pressurization system, will be hot-fire tested in vacuum. In addition, an environmental testing will be performed that includes GEVS-level shock and random vibration, and thermal-vacuum test within mission-relevant temperature ranges.
Technology keywords
Not reported
Other awards by this recipient
Verified by the same UEI. These are other public SBIR/STTR award pages, not a merged company record.
- Compact Stored Propellant Propulsion System for VLEO Satellites
- Thermal Improvement on 1 Newton ASCENT Thruster Valve Assembly (TVA)
- High Total Impulse BET-MAX System for Small-Sat Deorbiting
- High Power Density 10 kW Power Processing Unit for High Power Hall Thrusters
- Qualification of a Satellite on Umbilical Line (SOUL) System for Active Debris Removal (ADR)
Awards with the same topic code
Verified by an exact topic code match. This is not a text-similarity match.
- AF-M315E Monopropellant Cubesat Propulsion System, Phase II
- Green Monopropellant Thruster Technology Maturation
- Monopropellant Thrusters for Cubesats
- Monopropellant Propulsion Unit for Cubesats (MPUC) Thruster System
- Ultra Compact Green Monopropellant Propulsion for CubeSats
Research funding history
248 SBIR/STTR records share this UEI (1988–2026). Reported award amounts total $87,675,405. Reported amounts are not federal obligations.
Phases: Phase I, Phase II, Phase II – Direct to Phase II
Agencies: Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation