ALIENA is a Singapore-based space-tech company specializing in earth observation and plasma propulsion systems. The company's mission is to sharpen the edge of small satellite capabilities for sustainability from Earth to space.

The company is aiming to provide robust plasma propulsion systems for the Very low Earth orbit (VLEO) market. Simultaneously, ALIENA is also planning to deploy a fleet of earth observation satellites and provide remote sensing services.

ALIENA has pledged to unleash new in-space capabilities for small satellites with its unique plasma propulsion systems:

• flying closer to the Earth on very low Earth orbits (VLEO) to increase the quality of the collected data sets and impact lives on Earth
• allowing for sustainable space operations such as deorbiting at the end of life for a clean space for all
• empowering frontier space operations such as debris removal and in-space manufacturing

At their privately owned Jet Propulsion Test Facility, they develop turnkey plasma propulsion solutions in the range of 10's to 100's of watts, providing thrust capabilities from micro to milli Newtons for small satellites. This is achieved by their main product line, the MUSIC (Multi-Stage Ignition Compact) thruster which is based on the mature Hall Effect thruster technology.

The instant-ignition miniaturized Hall thruster was deployed in space on a 3U nanosatellite in January 2022, operating at below 10 W.

The oversubscribed $ 1.5M seed funding in venture capital from late 2019 allowed rapid business growth for ALIENA with the commissioning of the Jet Propulsion Test Facility, extensive R&D of the plasma propulsion systems, and in-orbit deployment of the instant-ignition thruster. Their next mission in 2023 will be the in-space deployment of the MUSIC thruster operating with a highly efficient hollow cathode.

Aliena was recently declared as the most promising space propulsion start-up at the Space Propulsion Conference 2022.