An Overview of Cube-Satellite Propulsion Technologies and Trends

TLDR

CubeSats offer a cost‑effective platform for scientific and technological studies, and their affordability has spurred widespread research and development worldwide, with propulsion systems serving as the primary mobility devices for orbit modification and attitude control. This paper surveys CubeSat propulsion systems, providing an overview of micro‑propulsion technologies currently under development or already developed for CubeSats. The authors outline the operating principles and key design considerations for each class of CubeSat micro‑propulsion system. The review notes that several listed micro‑propulsion technologies have flown as secondary systems on larger spacecraft, and summarizes performance metrics—including thrust, specific impulse, power, and thrust‑to‑power ratios—for all propulsion classes.

Abstract

CubeSats provide a cost effective means to perform scientific and technological studies in space. Due to their affordability, CubeSat technologies have been diversely studied and developed by educational institutions, companies and space organizations all over the world. The CubeSat technology that is surveyed in this paper is the propulsion system. A propulsion system is the primary mobility device of a spacecraft and helps with orbit modifications and attitude control. This paper provides an overview of micro-propulsion technologies that have been developed or are currently being developed for CubeSats. Some of the micro-propulsion technologies listed have also flown as secondary propulsion systems on larger spacecraft. Operating principles and key design considerations for each class of propulsion system are outlined. Finally, the performance factors of micro-propulsion systems have been summarized in terms of: first, a comparison of thrust and specific impulse for all propulsion systems; second, a comparison of power and specific impulse, as also thrust-to-power ratio and specific impulse for electric propulsion systems.