{"id":1215,"date":"2020-03-30T13:50:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T13:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=1215"},"modified":"2020-03-30T13:52:09","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T13:52:09","slug":"making-satellites-safer-the-search-for-new-propellants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1215\/making-satellites-safer-the-search-for-new-propellants\/","title":{"rendered":"Making satellites safer: the search for new propellants"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by\u00a0Kelly Oakes<\/h5>\n

Developing new propellants for satellites to replace toxic hydrazine would make launching and handling satellites safer but it also requires disrupting current systems, according to researchers.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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As the number of satellites soars, so will the amount of fuel we use to launch them. And getting into orbit is only half of the equation. Once a satellite is in position above Earth it needs a method of propulsion to make sure it can move if needed, avoiding space debris, compensating for drag over time, and even de-orbiting itself at the end of its mission.<\/p>\n

The current standard propellant for satellites is hydrazine-based fuel, which is highly toxic. Exposure to high levels of hydrazine can cause a host of health problems, including\u00a0damage to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system<\/a>. If hydrazine spills while a satellite is still on the ground, its violent and explosive nature can become\u00a0a public safety problem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Preparing a hydrazine-fuelled satellite for space is a hazardous task requiring special precautions for anyone involved, including space suit-like clothing that makes sure, if something were to go wrong, the people handling the fuel wouldn\u2019t breathe in the gas itself. \u2018They look a bit like a Michelin Man,\u2019 said Dr Norbert Frischauf, a partner at space consultancy\u00a0SpaceTec Partners<\/a>\u00a0in Belgium.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s no surprise that engineers are looking for new, cleaner ways to launch and propel satellites that use non-toxic fuels instead. \u2018Hydrazine is pretty nasty to work with from a health and safety perspective, so we’re seeing a lot more interest in these sorts of propellants,\u2019 said Erikas Knei\u017eys, Chief Design Officer at\u00a0NanoAvionics<\/a>, a spacecraft equipment manufacturer based in Europe and the US.<\/p>\n

In 2011, the European Chemicals Agency added hydrazine to\u00a0its list of \u2018substances of very high concern\u2019<\/a>, meaning its usage could soon be restricted.<\/p>\n

CubeSats<\/strong><\/p>\n

NanoAvionics specialises in technology for nanosatellites, including CubeSats, which are miniature satellites made of 10cm cube-shaped units, typically built using off-the-shelf components and weighing around 1kg each. As smaller satellites like these become more commonplace \u2013 NanoAvionics say there has been a 300% increase in small satellite launches between 2016 and 2020 \u2013 demand for clean propellants suited to them is likely to rise.<\/p>\n

‘There were basically no products when looking at the CubeSat market and when looking especially at (chemical) propulsion using (clean fuel),’ said Knei\u017eys. ‘So we\u2019ve seen this niche and started working on it.’<\/p>\n

Through a project titled\u00a0EPSS<\/a>, NanoAvionics has developed a\u00a0less harmful<\/a>\u00a0propellant based on ammonium dinitramide<\/a>, or ADN, a compound made up of nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen, especially for small satellites. The system has been integrated into a pilot satellite and has undergone a demonstration in orbit.<\/p>\n

The new system is what\u2019s known as a monopropellant, which works by passing the fuel over a catalyst that causes it to decompose, producing heat and gases that propel the spacecraft. Other systems use a bipropellant, in which two liquids are kept separate and typically ignite on mixing.<\/p>\n

Using a bipropellant ups the risk during manufacturing, says Knei\u017eys, as the two substances could accidentally come into contact and ignite before they are supposed to. \u2018In our monopropellant you have to go miles to make sure it burns, so it\u2019s relatively benign and stable compared to (most) bipropellant systems,\u2019 said Knei\u017eys.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just smaller satellites that could benefit from non-toxic propellant.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Hydrazine is pretty nasty to work with from a health and safety perspective.\u2019<\/p>\n

Erikas Knei\u017eys, Chief Design Officer, NanoAvionics<\/p>\n

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HyproGEO<\/a>, a project coordinated by aerospace company Airbus, has also developed a non-toxic propulsion system, this time focussing on satellites in geostationary orbit around Earth. Orbiting at 36,000 km, these satellites appear to stay at a fixed point above Earth\u2019s surface and are typically used for things like communications and broadcasting.<\/p>\n

‘To get up there, it takes quite a lot of energy,\u2019 says Dr Frischauf of SpaceTec Partners, a member of the HyproGEO consortium.<\/p>\n

Right now, that energy is provided mostly by hydrazine-based propellants. But HyproGEO has developed a hybrid propulsion system that uses hydrogen peroxide instead. The fuel, which is 98% hydrogen peroxide \u2013 compared to the 6% or so solution you\u2019d use for bleaching your hair \u2013\u00a0 is highly acidic, but still\u00a0less risky to work with than hydrazine<\/a>. It also breaks down to oxygen and water, avoiding the release of fumes that are harmful to humans.<\/p>\n

Geostationary satellites are designed to last a decade or longer, so the propellant, which is also used to manoeuvre them once they\u2019re in orbit, must be similarly robust. \u2018You have to make sure that it will still be running after 15 years, so it should be a simple system, because if it’s complicated there’s always a risk that something breaks,\u2019 said Dr Frischauf.<\/p>\n

Hybrid<\/strong><\/p>\n

The solution HyproGEO came up with was to use hybrid propulsion, which involves passing the hydrogen peroxide over a catalyser to produce very hot oxygen as well as water vapour. That oxygen can provide the propulsion by itself, or it can be used to ignite another substance for an extra boost. \u2018When you control the flow of the oxygen, you can control the thrust of the engine,\u2019 said Dr Frischauf.<\/p>\n

The team successfully developed a test engine to store the new propellant, showed that it decomposed as expected, and then designed a rocket engine using the fuel. Since that work was completed in 2018, Norwegian defence company Nammo have\u00a0used the HyproGEO hybrid engine to launch a rocket 107km from Earth\u2019s surface in just three minutes,<\/u>\u00a0a timescale typical of suborbital rockets using traditional propulsion systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Using these new propellants doesn\u2019t just benefit the people working with the current toxic fuels, it makes the whole infrastructure more efficient and cheaper too. Knei\u017eys says the EPSS system designed by NanoAvionics costs roughly a third of similar products that use traditional propellants.<\/p>\n

With all those benefits, what\u2019s holding these new propellants back? For one, hybrid propulsion systems traditionally haven\u2019t been capable of the long-duration firing needed to put satellites into geostationary orbit, a problem that HyproGEO managed to overcome.<\/p>\n

And the industry already has procedures set up to deal with traditional fuels like hydrazine \u2013 transitioning to something new requires disrupting those systems, said Dr Frischauf. \u2018It always takes a bit of an impetus, a bit of a push to make sure the new technology can prevail.\u2019<\/p>\n

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media. <\/em><\/p>\n

Originally published by Horizon <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Kelly Oakes Developing new propellants for satellites to replace toxic hydrazine would make launching and handling satellites safer but it also requires disrupting current systems, according to researchers. As the number of satellites soars, so will the amount of fuel we use to launch them. And getting into orbit is only half of the equation. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":1216,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[112,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ict","category-space"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking satellites safer: the search for new propellants - Horizon Magazine Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1215\/making-satellites-safer-the-search-for-new-propellants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making satellites safer: the search for new propellants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by\u00a0Kelly Oakes Developing new propellants for satellites to replace toxic hydrazine would make launching and handling satellites safer but it also requires disrupting current systems, according to researchers. 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