Using the same butane fuel found in cigarette lighters, the smallest propulsion system to fly in space will help a satellite the size of a soccer ball rendezvous with another spacecraft later this year. The propulsion system currently powers the 14-pound SNAP 1 satellite, which was launched on June 28. Ward said the thruster will fire 30 more times during the coming weeks so SNAP 1 can rendezvous in November with Tsinghua 1, a microsatellite developed by Surrey and by China's Tsinghua Aerospace Research Center. The tiny satellite was designed to demonstrate how nanosatellites can be used to rendezvous with and inspect other satellites, and to test technologies for rendezvous and for swarms of nanosatellites to fly in formation, he added.
Butane is a decidedly low-tech way to power nanosatellite thrusters.
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