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Propulsion & Power

Propulsion firm CU Aerospace gains flight heritage for two thruster

By SpaceEnergy 22 August 2026 1 min read
Propulsion firm CU Aerospace gains flight heritage for two thruster
Source: NASA

(SpaceEnergy) US propulsion developer CU Aerospace says two polymer-fuelled micropropulsion systems have achieved operational flight heritage aboard its Dual Propulsion Experiment CubeSat.

The Illinois-based company disclosed the milestone in a Small Satellite Conference paper released on 22 August, ahead of a presentation scheduled for 26 August in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The 6U Dual Propulsion Experiment (DUPLEX) spacecraft carries CU Aerospace’s Fiber-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster (FPPT) and Monofilament Vaporization Propulsion (MVP) system. Both technologies were developed with NASA Small Business Innovation Research funding.

CU Aerospace said both thrusters have now reached Technology Readiness Level 8 and operations are continuing to gather additional in-orbit performance data.

Neither propulsion system uses fluid propellant, pressure vessels or valves. The MVP converts solid Delrin polymer into vapour for propulsion, while the FPPT feeds polytetrafluoroethylene fibre into a pulsed plasma thruster.

DUPLEX was deployed from the International Space Station on 2 December 2025 following its September launch.

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