Patent — available for licensing
CubeSat Propulsion and Maneuvering System
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
NASA Johnson Space Center’s R5 Project Team has developed a modular CubeSat platform series, called “R5-SX”, whose six-degree-of-freedom cold-gas propulsion and maneuvering system employs three mainstay innovations: a High-Pressure Manifold, a Thruster Pod, and Threaded Jet Inserts. Their technical descriptions can be found below. The SX-series platform was developed to significantly reduce costs associated with payload demonstration in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by implementing a minimally-viable product approach to component scope definition without sacrificing performance. Although aligned with on-orbit mission abilities, these individual propulsion and maneuvering innovations may also translate to terrestrial applications that utilize, or desire, metered pressurized fluid-flow. The High-Pressure Manifold, Thruster Pod, and Threaded Jet Inserts are at technology readiness level (TRL) 8 (actual system completed and "flight qualified" through test and demonstration). Please note that NASA does not manufacture products itself for commercial sale. SHOWN ABOVE: The R5 Spacecraft 2, (R5-S2), and the R5 Spacecraft 4, (R5-S4), are the first two R5 spacecraft to successfully make it into orbit. These spacecraft, which contain no space-rated components, quickly exceeded their minimum mission success criteria and operated throughout their 10-month mission lifetime in orbit.