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CubeSats are becoming ever more popular, with around 2,400 total launched so far. However, the small size limits their options for fundamental space exploration technologies, including propulsion. They become even more critical when mission planners design missions that require them to travel to other planets or even asteroids. A team from Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi recently released a review of the different Cubesat propulsion technologies currently available \u2013 let\u2019s look at their advantages and disadvantages.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The paper breaks propulsion systems into four categories: Chemical, Kinetic, Electrical, and \u201cPropellant-less.\u201d Chemical systems are the traditional rockets most people think of when launching satellites \u2013 they burn chemicals together and expel gas created by the fire to produce thrust. Kinetic systems use things like cold gas, where instead of reacting two chemicals together, they simply push gas molecules out to propel themselves in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n Electrical systems are similar to kinetic systems but use an electrical system, such as a Hall Effect thruster, to heat the propellant before it is expelled. Lastly, propulsion-less technologies don\u2019t have any active component and instead, passively use the forces from space itself to move about. The most common example of this is solar sails.<\/p>\n \n