Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 1 (PTD-1) - TUI HYDROS

The goal of the PTD-1 mission is to demonstrate the Tethers Unlimited Inc. (TUI) HYDROS water fueled thruster. The development of this thruster was supported through a public-private partnership between TUI and NASA. The HYDROS is intended to provide safe, high-performance propulsion for secondary payloads. The propulsion system is launched with only liquid water as the propellant and then uses electrolysis to split the water into gaseous hydrogen and oxygen for a simple bipropellant thruster once deployed on-orbit. This orbital flight test is part of the Pathfinder Technology Demonstration series of missions where the spacecraft, payload integration, and operations are provided under a commercial contract with Tyvak Nano-Satellite System, Inc.

Launching with only unpressurized liquid water as the spacecraft propellant precursor provides safety benefits and risk mitigation. This allows small spacecraft to be hosted on a wider variety of missions as secondary payloads, while still carrying a propulsion system that provides high thrust. The HYDROS system also provides a potential platform for the future ISRU of water harvested in space for refueling. In-flight demonstration of this thruster will de-risk the technology for future mission use.