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Propulsion & Power

ThrustMe iodine propulsion reaches 25 constellations

By SpaceEnergy 25 August 2026 1 min read

(SpaceEnergy) French electric-propulsion company ThrustMe says its iodine-fuelled systems now equip more than 25 satellite constellations, with more than 500 propulsion units delivered and 242 launched.

The company disclosed the milestone at the Small Satellite Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Its launched systems are flying across more than 85 satellites for over 50 customers in Europe, North America and Asia.

ThrustMe said its propulsion systems have accumulated more than 22,000 hours of in-orbit manoeuvring. Since opening industrial production in 2023, it has doubled production each year and now ships about one propulsion system per day from its facility in Essonne, France.

Its NPT30-I2 uses iodine in a gridded ion thruster, while the larger JPT150-I2 combines iodine propellant with Hall-effect electric propulsion. ThrustMe positions iodine as an alternative to xenon that avoids pressurised-gas storage and associated supply-chain constraints.

The company is preparing an in-orbit demonstration of the JPT150-I2 in the first quarter of 2027, extending iodine propulsion to larger satellite platforms.

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