Rubicon Space Systems is a committed champion and partner in creating a more verdant space economy. We are a developer and provider of in-space propulsion systems and thrusters that use the low-toxicity “green” and safe Advanced Space Craft Energetic Non-Toxic propellant (ASCENT), also known as AF-M315E. It is no longer a choice between “going green” or high performance. Our thruster technology offers both.

Rubicon Space Systems has more than 30 years of combined experience in developing green propulsion technologies and thousands of hours of thruster testing experience. Our team leads the world in the development and infusion of ASCENT-based technology, and we are ready to support your spacecraft mobility needs.

Hydrazine systems have dominated state-of-the-art development regimes spanning over half a century of progress. Although alternative propellant technologies to hydrazine have existed for some time, few have delivered as high performance for the same simplicity. While hydrazine will likely be around for another half century or more, the ASCENT monopropellant now presents the strongest monopropellant alternative to hydrazine. It has a lower vapor pressure than hydrazine, is less flammable, is easily storable, and produces more benign byproducts post-combustion.

We want to provide you several reason it is now time to “go green”.

Preeminent Performance: ASCENT demonstrates a nearly 50% increased performance over hydrazine. Factor in its volumetric-ISP, and ASCENT monopropellants have MMH/NTO bi-prop level performance with the simplicity of a monopropellant.

Simpler Systems: A hydrazine fuel leak is considered “catastrophic,” whereas ASCENT propellant hazard severity is considered “critical” and possibly “marginal” per MIL-STD-882E (Standard Practice for System Safety). This means that an ASCENT propulsion systems requires only two seals to inhibit external leakage, meaning no additional latch valves or other isolation devices are required.

Fueling Flexibility: ASCENT spacecraft fueling operations do not require Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits, meaning that fueling operations can be performed with greater flexibility and lower cost. And fueling operations may generally be permitted as a parallel operation, and may require a smaller exclusionary zone, allowing for concurrent and accelerated launch readiness operations.

Rubicon’s line of low-toxicity “green” thrusters offer unprecedented performance with monopropellant simplicity.  Our thrusters use ASCENT, a safe, long-term storable, low toxicity propellant developed by AFRL and NASA. ASCENT delivers nearly  50% higher performance compared to hydrazine and outperforms other forms of green propulsion. Our 0.1N thrusters are on NASA’s Lunar Flashlight 6U spacecraft. We offer standalone thrusters for experienced customers to integrate into their own propulsion systems and as part of our in-house built propulsion systems.