Summary

The Rafael Ltd 25N thruster is a monopropellant hydrazine thruster suitable for maneuvering the satellite and is qualified for the OFEQ program.

The thruster consists of a Flow Control Valve (FCV) that is operated by solenoid and a Thrust Chamber Assembly (TCA). The TCA has a bell-shaped nozzle with an expansion ratio of 60 welded to the decomposition chamber.

Perforated Hayness-alloy tubular element acts as a thermal barrier between the FCV and TCA. The FCV has an inlet port, springs, valve body; coils, plungers, seats and a mounting flange.

For repeatable and long duration operation, the required initial thermal condition was provided by electric catalyst bed heater (CBH) with two resistance coils.

MS 33656-4 threaded connector is used for the connection of the thruster inlet to the system tubing which complies with the screwed connection requirement.

The thruster has flight heritage and is free of any ITAR restrictions

Key features

  • Monopropellant: hydrazine 
  • Suitable for maneuvering the satellite
  • Qualified for the OFEQ program
  • Consists of 
    • Flow Control Valve (FCV)
    • Thruster chamber assembly which includes a bell-shaped nozzle
    • Perforated Hayness-alloy tubular element as a thermal barrier
    • MS 33656-4 threaded connector for inlet-system tube connection
    • electric catalyst bed heater (CBH)
  • Free of any ITAR restriction

Customizations

1/4'' or 3/8'' welded inlet tube can be provided for the thruster based on the customer preference.

Flight heritage

The system has achieved flight heritage with OFEQ and EROS programs.

Manufacturing

  • Clean rooms (more than 1000 m²)
    • Clean Room Component Level
    • Clean Room PS-AIT
  • Metal Technology Center
    • CAD/CAM, CNC machining
    • Electro-Erosion
    • Forming, hydro-spinning, deep hot and cold-drawing
    • Surface treatment, heat treatment
    • Welding (EBW, GTAW, GMAW, plasma), brazing
    • Cutting, bending and flaring of titanium tubes
  • Hot Firing test facility which includes 5 Firing Chambers
    • Chambers for 1÷10 N class thrusters
    • Chamber for high-trust thrusters and/or system tests
    • Chamber for Hall effect thruster & EP system firing
  • Ground support equipment for testing components and systems
  • GSE propulsion systems electrical tester

Testing & qualification

Rafael Quality system is certified to ISO 9001:2015/AS9100D. The quality policy of Rafael is derived from the common space quality standards, especially from ESA. Rafael ensures 100% inspection on the space products from the raw materials used to final integration. ERP integrated quality system enables full traceability from raw material to the delivered item.

Export control

Rafael's thrusters are free of any ITAR restrictions.

Disclaimer: satsearch is not responsible for any mistakes on this page, although we do our best to ensure correctness. Please report any mistakes to us.

Last updated: 2024-02-05

25N Thruster

Downloads

Specs

propellant type
Hydrazine (N2H4)
thrust
9.5 to 28 N (steady state)
specific impulse
>220 s @22 bar
>205 s @ 5.5 bar
minimum impulse bit
0.3 N s

Export

from our blog

Go to blog

CubeSat thrusters and small satellite propulsion systems

CubeSat thrusters: an overview of in-space propulsion products for small satellites

Microsatellite and CubeSat platforms on the global market