Sector: Aerospace Design
Industry: Satellite Propulsion Hardware (Vacuum Arc Thrusters)
Product: Very Low Earth Orbits Propulsion Technology
Market Size: (G) USD 3.50 billion
Differentiation: Vacuum Arc Thrusters
Investment Stage: Market Entry
Stage: Validation and Testing
Team: Jonathan Lun, Gareth Halstead
Hypernova Space Technologies
Hypernova Space Technologies builds plasma-based electric propulsion for small satellites designed to enhance maneuverability and expand mission capabilities. Hypernova’s simple design – without the complexity of exotic fuels, high-pressure systems, and intricate valves – is conducive to consistent and reliable operations in space.
Key characteristics of Hypernova’s Vacuum Arc Thruster (VAT) designs include thrust-on-demand and flexibility over a wide range of mission scenarios. Their VAT is suitable for CubeSats, as well as larger form factor smallsats, Hypernova’s thrusters can be used for station-keeping, constellation phasing, collision avoidance, and other critical in-orbit maneuvers.
Value Proposition
Hypernova is building technology to enable satellites to use Very Low Earth Orbits (VLEO). VLEO is considered prime real estate in space as these orbits enable lower latency, improved link budgets, faster revisit times, higher resolution images (for the same size aperture size), increased launch mass and faster & passive end-of-life removal.
Hypernova’s solution is to leverage Vacuum Arc Thrusters to develop propulsion that uses fuel that is both (1) low-cost & abundant (aluminium or steel) and (2) can be replenished (or refuelled) in orbit, thereby creating “endless” mobility for satellites. By using inert substances as fuel, Hypernova’s VAT system also has many benefits and reduced risk due to the stability of the fuel during transport/transit.
Team
Jonathan Lun
Jon is an experienced Senior Engineer with a demonstrated history of working in the aerospace industry. Jon is skilled in Electric Propulsion, Stress Analysis, Structural Design, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and R&D. He is a strong engineering professional with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) focused on Mechanical Engineering from University of the Witwatersrand.
Gareth Halstead
Gareth holds B.Eng. Chemical Engineering (Hons), M.Eng. Gareth’s experience includes international business development roles in mining, manufacturing & high-growth technology start-ups
