Ibadan, 13 March 2023. – Pale Blue has announced successfully operating the water vapor propulsion system (resistojet) in low earth orbit. Pale Blue installed its propulsion system on “EYE,” a nano-satellite for STAR SPHERE Project, and tested it for the first time in space. Going forward, the company will innovate and expand the commercial use of its water-based propulsion systems for small satellites
SpaceX launched Pale Blue’s water-based propulsion system aboard “EYE” on January 3rd, 2023, and it has been orbiting the earth in LEO. The propulsion system operated for approximately 2 minutes on March 3rd, 2023, and the company confirmed successful thrust from the obtained data.
The Sony Group Corporation’s STAR SPHERE Project plans to roll out a space photography service in 2023, and the satellite will use Pale Blue’s thruster to enter the target orbit before service launch.
Speaking on the success, Jun Asakawa, CEO and co-founder of Pale Blue, said, “Pale Blue successfully developed and operated its water-based thruster, and with this, the company takes a huge step towards orbit insertion for STAR SPHERE Project.”
Asakawa added, “we feel a strong significance in this project, which creates new values through the perspective of space and provides opportunities to learn about the Earth and its environment.” “We will continue technological innovation to create mobility capabilities that are core to the space industry and pioneer the expansion of human possibility,” Asakawa concluded.
