This Indian Space Startup To Test Electric Propulsion For Satellites Tomorrow

He said the HET developed by Bellatrix imparts a very high specific impulse or mileage when compared with conventional rockets, reducing the dependence on traditional fuels such as hydrazine, which is very toxic and carcinogenic.

Bengaluru-based space startup Bellatrix Aerospace will send its experimental payload, Hall-effect thruster (HET), on Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C55 that is set for launch tomorrow.

The ARKA-series HET, which will demonstrate the solar electric propulsion engine for small satellites, will be flying in the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM), where the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) uses the final stage of the rocket as an orbital platform to carry out experiments in orbit.

"It is something like taking this EV (electric vehicle) revolution to space but actually, the technology is much more complex and very different from how we operate here," Bellatrix Aerospace co-founder Yashas Karanam told Press Trust of India.

He said the HET developed by Bellatrix imparts a very high specific impulse or mileage when compared with conventional rockets, reducing the dependence on traditional fuels such as hydrazine, which is very toxic and carcinogenic.