ThrustMe delivers iodine Hall thruster for MarbleSat-1

(SpaceEnergy) ThrustMe has delivered its JPT150 iodine-fuelled Hall thruster to Reflex Aerospace for integration on Marble Imaging’s MarbleSat-1 Earth observation satellite, ahead of a planned first-quarter 2027 launch.

The French propulsion company said the JPT150 was delivered at the end of July and is now being integrated into the German-built spacecraft. The milestone advances a three-company in-orbit demonstration announced in July 2025, when the spacecraft was referred to as MIRI.

ThrustMe describes the JPT150 as the first iodine-fuelled Hall thruster. The integrated system combines the thruster, power electronics, propellant storage and management, thermal control and embedded software. Iodine is stored as a solid and vaporised when required, avoiding the high-pressure tanks typically used for xenon-fed electric propulsion.

The system is intended for spacecraft weighing from several hundred kilograms to about 500 kg, extending ThrustMe’s iodine propulsion range beyond its smaller NPT30 gridded-ion system.

“For years, we were told iodine would never leave the lab,” founder and chief executive Ane Aanesland said. “With the JPT150, we're bringing it to Hall thrusters.”

Reflex Aerospace chief technology officer Felix Motzki said removing the pressurised propellant tank returned scarce spacecraft volume and confirmed the delivered unit was in integration.