Hall Yes!

At 5:42 AM in Bengaluru, monsoon clouds still hung heavy over southern India. But inside a weather office, a forecaster wasn't focused on the lingering storms; instead, their eyes were glued to fresh satellite data, storm patterns appearing on screen just moments after being captured from orbit. High above, the satellite responsible for this real-time intelligence completed its silent pass. Not propelled by a fiery thrust, but a faint, electric glow from its thrusters, a plume as elegant as a comet's tail.

This was propulsion for the quiet age, and that glow is electric propulsion (EP). It has crept from being an alternative to go-to option for propulsion systems. In the early 2000s barely 10% of operational spacecraft flew electric; by 2025 the share is ~75 %. The reason is simple:

  • It has Lighter tanks which means cheaper launch costs.

  • Longer life with precise thrusts and exceptional Isp.

Electric propulsion is what makes modern space missions smarter. These systems use electricity to ionize and accelerate gas, producing a focused stream of ions that propels the spacecraft forward. Instead of burning through fuel in minutes, they provide a gentle but persistent push for years, enabling longer missions.

Unlike chemical engines that rely on combustion and pressure, electric propulsion offers control. It’s the difference between blasting off and fine-tuning. While chemical propulsion is still king for launch and quick orbital changes, EP dominates where it matters most: in-space operations, efficiency, and longevity. It doesn’t just move satellites; it makes them sustainable.

At 5:42 AM in Bengaluru, monsoon clouds still hung heavy over southern India. But inside a weather office, a forecaster wasn't focused on the lingering storms; instead, their eyes were glued to fresh satellite data, storm patterns appearing on screen just moments after being captured from orbit. High above, the satellite responsible for this real-time intelligence completed its silent pass. Not propelled by a fiery thrust, but a faint, electric glow from its thrusters, a plume as elegant as a comet's tail.

This was propulsion for the quiet age, and that glow is electric propulsion (EP). It has crept from being an alternative to go-to option for propulsion systems. In the early 2000s barely 10% of operational spacecraft flew electric; by 2025 the share is ~75 %. The reason is simple:

  • It has Lighter tanks which means cheaper launch costs.

  • Longer life with precise thrusts and exceptional Isp.

Electric propulsion is what makes modern space missions smarter. These systems use electricity to ionize and accelerate gas, producing a focused stream of ions that propels the spacecraft forward. Instead of burning through fuel in minutes, they provide a gentle but persistent push for years, enabling longer missions.

Unlike chemical engines that rely on combustion and pressure, electric propulsion offers control. It’s the difference between blasting off and fine-tuning. While chemical propulsion is still king for launch and quick orbital changes, EP dominates where it matters most: in-space operations, efficiency, and longevity. It doesn’t just move satellites; it makes them sustainable.

The EP Family & The Goldilocks Thruster

Graph 1: IsP vs Thust
Credits: The Aerospace Corporation. 2024 Small Satellite Propulsion

Table 1: Image Source- Enpulsion, Benchmark Space Systems and Busek

The Propellant Alchemy

Xenon is gold, literally priced like a precious metal. Constellation operators therefore pivot to Krypton, which delivers ~90 % of the performance. Bellatrix’s HETs are qualified on both gases, to give customers a choice in the quiver when supply chains tighten.

The Propellant Alchemy

Xenon is gold, literally priced like a precious metal. Constellation operators therefore pivot to Krypton, which delivers ~90 % of the performance. Bellatrix’s HETs are qualified on both gases, to give customers a choice in the quiver when supply chains tighten.

While xenon continues to offer exceptional performance characteristics as a spacecraft propellant, owing primarily to its high atomic mass and ease of ionization, its limited availability, volatile supply chains, and considerable procurement costs pose critical challenges. These factors introduce strategic trade-offs in the development, design, and long-term operation of electric propulsion systems, especially as satellite constellations scale up and missions become increasingly frequent. Consequently, propulsion manufacturers and mission designers are compelled to explore alternative propellants such as krypton, argon, or even solid propellants like zinc, each presenting distinct trade-offs in terms of performance, efficiency, storability, and mission compatibility.

Pain-Points to Product Roadmaps

Electric-propulsion buyers aren’t swayed by pretty plasma pictures alone; they live in a spreadsheet world of missed launch windows, currency swings in xenon futures, and regulators breathing down their necks about debris.

While xenon continues to offer exceptional performance characteristics as a spacecraft propellant, owing primarily to its high atomic mass and ease of ionization, its limited availability, volatile supply chains, and considerable procurement costs pose critical challenges. These factors introduce strategic trade-offs in the development, design, and long-term operation of electric propulsion systems, especially as satellite constellations scale up and missions become increasingly frequent. Consequently, propulsion manufacturers and mission designers are compelled to explore alternative propellants such as krypton, argon, or even solid propellants like zinc, each presenting distinct trade-offs in terms of performance, efficiency, storability, and mission compatibility.

Pain-Points to Product Roadmaps

Electric-propulsion buyers aren’t swayed by pretty plasma pictures alone; they live in a spreadsheet world of missed launch windows, currency swings in xenon futures, and regulators breathing down their necks about debris.

Hardware that Makes Math Work

Bellatrix designed Arka as a single, scalable architecture. Whether you need a 3-U CubeSat thruster or a 5-kW workhorse for GEO, every Arka shares two core building blocks:

  1. Magnetically shielded discharge channel for >10000 h erosion life, matching best-in-class HET durability.

  2. Proprietary Heater-less Cathode (HC) technology.

  3. Ignition cycles: >10000 cycles.

Conventional Hall thrusters use a fragile, resistor-wound hollow cathode that must pre-heat for minutes and consumes 5–10 % of bus power during steady state. Our HC ignition eliminates the external heater entirely. The result:

  • Cold-start in <15 s (versus ~2 min).

  • 30 W–100 W power savings, depending on thruster size, crucial for smallsat power budgets.

  • Longer life & fewer single-point failures (no heater burnout).

Refer Bellatrix Arka for detailed spec

But where does HETs shine?

Hall thrusters are no longer “just station-keeping” solution; they now shoulder every phase of a satellite’s life:

Hardware that Makes Math Work

Bellatrix designed Arka as a single, scalable architecture. Whether you need a 3-U CubeSat thruster or a 5-kW workhorse for GEO, every Arka shares two core building blocks:

  1. Magnetically shielded discharge channel for >10000 h erosion life, matching best-in-class HET durability.

  2. Proprietary Heater-less Cathode (HC) technology.

  3. Ignition cycles: >10000 cycles.

Conventional Hall thrusters use a fragile, resistor-wound hollow cathode that must pre-heat for minutes and consumes 5–10 % of bus power during steady state. Our HC ignition eliminates the external heater entirely. The result:

  • Cold-start in <15 s (versus ~2 min).

  • 30 W–100 W power savings, depending on thruster size, crucial for smallsat power budgets.

  • Longer life & fewer single-point failures (no heater burnout).

Refer Bellatrix Arka for detailed spec

But where does HETs shine?

Hall thrusters are no longer “just station-keeping” solution; they now shoulder every phase of a satellite’s life:

The compact ARKA 100, ARKA 200 and ARKA 500 deliver the same precision DNA to the small sat arena. Operating in the 50–600W class, they enable attitude control, required orbit raising, drag-compensation, and responsible de-orbiting for CubeSats, microsatellites and small satellites, all without the complexity or bulk of heavy propulsion systems. This makes them ideal for constellation operators who need affordable, scalable mobility with the same Hall-effect efficiency trusted on flagship spacecraft.

Scaling the Whisper!

Because thrust in an HET scales linearly with power, bigger solar arrays unlock bigger maneuvers:

· The linear relationship between thrust and power in Hall Effect Thrusters (HETs) means that larger solar arrays enable more ambitious space maneuvers. Today, a single Hall thruster equipped with standard solar panels can propel a satellite from a transfer orbit to its destination in under six months, ensuring entire constellations remain perfectly aligned.

·  In the future, we anticipate bundling couple of mid-size Hall thrusters together, sharing a single power unit and fuel lines, to propel small satellites from Earth orbits to Lunar orbits. This near-term advancement will mark a significant leap in our space mobility capabilities.

Each advancement leverages the same foundational Hall physics, with enhancements in magnets, anode geometry, and thermal management, upgrades that Bellatrix is already pioneering. The future of space travel is here, and it's more efficient and powerful than ever!

The Future Is Electric

From Tsiolkovsky’s ink-blotted notebooks to the silent blue-white glows above us tonight, electric propulsion has always promised more with less. Hall Effect Thrusters finally deliver that promise at scale, and Bellatrix is forging the tools that let mission architects trade decibels for delta-V, toxicity for tact, and lead-time headaches for hardware certainty.

The compact ARKA 100, ARKA 200 and ARKA 500 deliver the same precision DNA to the small sat arena. Operating in the 50–600W class, they enable attitude control, required orbit raising, drag-compensation, and responsible de-orbiting for CubeSats, microsatellites and small satellites, all without the complexity or bulk of heavy propulsion systems. This makes them ideal for constellation operators who need affordable, scalable mobility with the same Hall-effect efficiency trusted on flagship spacecraft.

Scaling the Whisper!

Because thrust in an HET scales linearly with power, bigger solar arrays unlock bigger maneuvers:

· The linear relationship between thrust and power in Hall Effect Thrusters (HETs) means that larger solar arrays enable more ambitious space maneuvers. Today, a single Hall thruster equipped with standard solar panels can propel a satellite from a transfer orbit to its destination in under six months, ensuring entire constellations remain perfectly aligned.

·  In the future, we anticipate bundling couple of mid-size Hall thrusters together, sharing a single power unit and fuel lines, to propel small satellites from Earth orbits to Lunar orbits. This near-term advancement will mark a significant leap in our space mobility capabilities.

Each advancement leverages the same foundational Hall physics, with enhancements in magnets, anode geometry, and thermal management, upgrades that Bellatrix is already pioneering. The future of space travel is here, and it's more efficient and powerful than ever!

The Future Is Electric

From Tsiolkovsky’s ink-blotted notebooks to the silent blue-white glows above us tonight, electric propulsion has always promised more with less. Hall Effect Thrusters finally deliver that promise at scale, and Bellatrix is forging the tools that let mission architects trade decibels for delta-V, toxicity for tact, and lead-time headaches for hardware certainty.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Email: info@bellatrix.aero