Nitrous Oxide Micro Engines, Phase I

Nitrous Oxide Micro Engines (NOME) are a new type of nitrous oxide dissociation thruster designed to generate low levels of thrust that can be used for RCS control in large satellites or as main propulsion in micro-satellites. Nitrous is the ideal propellant choice for RCS control in satellites due to the fact that it is non-toxic, non-cryogenic, easily storable, self-pressurizing, and cost effective (unlike monopropellant engines that use hydrazine or hydrogen peroxide which are toxic and/or dangerous, increasing ground costs). NOME engines will have all the desirable features of other monopropellant engines (i.e. simplicity of design, restartable/control on demand, and repeatability) NOME engines will also have a comparable ISP to current monopropellant engines (near 190s) but will be made to achieve greater simplicity and lower handling costs than current systems. NOMEs will have over double the Isp of cold gas reaction control systems. More »