SAN FRANCISCO – Rubicon Space Systems completed hot-fire testing of its Velox 5-newton ASCENT monopropellant thruster, paving the way for on-orbit operations in 2027.

“The program demonstrated performance beyond our design objectives,” Rubicon Director Daniel Cavender told SpaceNews. “We are now transitioning the thruster into flight production.”

The Velox thruster, fueled with ASCENT, a hydrazine replacement, was tested in Rubicon’s vacuum altitude test chamber in Huntsville, Alabama.