Paris, 28 January 2021. – The Californian start-up Apollo Fusion will provide the propulsion system for a LEO satellite constellation program placed by Denver-based York Space Systems, the company announced.
York’s order with Apollo will provide the electric propulsion system for a LEO constellation of ten or more satellites with an anticipated launch in 2022, the company said.
York will be incorporating Apollo’s Constellation Engine (ACE) — a low thrust, high efficiency, radiation hardened Hall thruster propulsion system developed by Apollo Fusion, it said. “ACE’s modular design enables Apollo to meet this program’s cost, schedule, and volume requirements”.
Apollo Fusion designs and builds state of the art Hall thruster propulsion systems for government and commercial satellite programs and has built the capacity to deliver dozens of propulsion systems every month, the company says.
Apollo’s founder and CEO Mike Cassidy was previously Vice President at Google where he led Project Loon, a high-altitude telecommunications system that was recently shelved by Google’s Alphabet holding.
