Iodine Satellite (iSat)

Propulsion technology is often a critical enabling technology for space missions but secondary payload safety restrictions can make adding significant propulsion capabilities to small spacecraft challenging. Iodine can be launched as an inert solid and then vaporized into an ionized gas once in orbit, which removes the risk to the launch vehicle and primary payload. Launching as a dense solid instead of a gas also increases the amount propellant that can be stored in the same volume on the spacecraft. An iodine thruster like the one worked on under iSat would allow a small spacecraft to alter its orbital inclination and elevation, opening up a wider range of mission objectives than previously possible with spacecraft of this size.