Announcement: ECAPS Attains NQA AS9100 and ISO 9001 Certifications

We are delighted to announce that ECAPS has successfully achieved the prestigious NQA AS9100 and ISO 9001 certifications, underscoring our unwavering commitment to excellence and quality in aerospace manufacturing and management.

This significant milestone underscores our dedication to upholding the highest industry standards and ensuring the utmost quality, reliability, and performance across all our products and services. By implementing robust quality management systems, ECAPS continues to set the benchmark for excellence in the space propulsion sector.

These certifications validate our steadfast focus on quality management, continual improvement, and customer satisfaction. Customers can have complete confidence in our processes, products, and services, knowing that they meet or exceed the stringent requirements of the aerospace industry.

At ECAPS, we remain steadfast in our mission to deliver cutting-edge, sustainable propulsion solutions that redefine the future of space exploration.

Oak Universe Completes Acquisition of ECAPS AB

Oak Universe AB is pleased to announce the successful completion of its acquisition of ECAPS AB on July 27, 2023.This strategic move marks a significant milestone in Oak Universe's expansion into the aerospace industry, showcasing its commitment to advancing cutting-edge technologies and driving innovation.

ECAPS AB is a renowned company specializing in the production of rocket engines and propellant for satellites and spacecraft. Recognized as a global leader in the development of non-toxic, "green" mono-propellant, ECAPS has positioned itself at the forefront of sustainable propulsion solutions for the fast-growing space industry.

"We are excited to announce the completion of the acquisition of ECAPS AB," said Odysseas Christofi and John Franklin, Founding Partners of Oak Universe AB. "This acquisition marks a significant milestone in Oak Universe's strategic expansion in the aerospace sector. By leveraging ECAPS's technical excellence in sustainable propulsion systems, we aim to drive innovation and accelerate advancements in sustainable propulsion technology. Together, we are committed to contributing to the growth and success of the space industry."

Under the new ownership of Oak Universe, ECAPS is poised for accelerated growth and continued success. Additionally, Oak Universe is thrilled to announce the appointment of Robert de Try as Managing Director of ECAPS. Robert brings extensive experience in the space industry, having previously served as the site director at ECAPS. His leadership will play a pivotal role in driving ECAPS's growth and strategic initiatives.

Reflecting on his new role, Robert de Try, Managing Director of ECAPS, shared his enthusiasm, 'I am truly excited to continue the development of ECAPS with its world-class team and the world's leading sustainable propulsion technologies, invented in Sweden. With access to Oak Universe's expertise and network, ECAPS will be able to further build upon the company's past successes. In my view, the future for ECAPS looks brighter than ever.'

Anticipating the road ahead, here stand some pivotal initiatives that will delineate ECAPS's trajectory in the forthcoming phases:

Market Expansion: ECAPS will capitalize on its established presence in the United States while exploring untapped opportunities in the European market. By enhancing marketing efforts, strengthening the brand, ECAPS aims to expand its market share in both the USA and Europe, driving the adoption of sustainable propulsion systems.

Product Development: Recognizing the increasing demand for propulsion systems in larger spacecraft, ECAPS will diversify its product offerings by developing new generation larger thrusters. This strategic move positions ECAPS as a leader in the industry and maximizes profitability by catering to the growing demand for advanced propulsion solutions.

Production Scaling: To meet the rising market demand, ECAPS will scale up its production capabilities. Through strategic investments, ECAPS will optimize manufacturing processes, streamline operations, and increase production capacity for thrusters and propellants. This initiative ensures timely delivery and customer satisfaction, supporting ECAPS's commitment to providing cutting-edge propulsion solutions.

300th thruster tested

Solna, Sweden - Jun 29,2022

Today, Wednesday 29th of June, ECAPS test team completed hot fire testing of our 300th thruster at our Space Test Centre at Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) in Grindsjön Sweden.

The 300th thruster was a 1N thruster which will be delivered to one of our many customers of our world class high performance green propulsion for satellite applications.

For more information, please contact: media@ecaps.se

ECAPS is 20

Solna, Sweden - November 28, 2020

ECAPS is celebrating 20 years in High Performance Green Propulsion. What began as a collaboration with SSC, Volvo Aero and the Swedish Government back in the mid 1990’s, was inaugurated as ECAPS company on 28th November 2000. Since then we have been developing and testing Green propellants, engines, systems and technology. Now, 20 years later, we continue to deliver products to our Worldwide customers with a class-topping range of high-performance thrusters, and expertise. Now part of Bradford Space group, the company is still based in Solna, Sweden where we started.

For more information, please contact: media@ecaps.se

ECAPS Celebrates 10 Years in Orbit

Stockholm, Sweden - June 15, 2020

On the sunny afternoon of June 15th 2010, a Dnepr rocket sat quietly in a Yasny missile silo. On board was the Prisma spacecraft, a Swedish technology demonstrator mission that was the culmination of five years planning and execution in Solna, Sweden. Prisma was a 190 kg combined satellite and target drone designed to investigate techniques for formation flying and rendezvous in low Earth orbit under autonomous control. The launch went ahead as scheduled at 14:42, releasing Prisma into orbit 16 minutes later.

This launch was significant for Bradford ECAPS as it included the first HPGP rocket engines on a spacecraft. Two 1N HPGP thrusters were fitted to the satellite to provide orbit maintenance throughout the mission.

When Prisma was launched, the 1N HPGP thruster was the highest performance monopropellant thruster in the world. Today, 10 years later, it still is. The technology demonstrated on Prisma continues, as further variants of the original 1N HPGP design are in continuous production and supplied to customers around the world.

SkySat Systems Ready for Launch

The Bradford ECAPS propulsion systems for SkySats 16 – 18 are fueled and ready for lift-off at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station USA onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 8 mission. Three other systems, for SkySats 19 – 21, will be launched later this summer on another SpaceX Falcon 9. For more details on this SkySat Block 3 mission go to Planet’s announcement SkySats 16-21 To Launch On SpaceX Falcon 9 Rideshare Missions.

The SkySat propulsion is a highly compact system originally designed by ECAPS for Skybox Imaging, now Planet. The SkySat spacecraft are powered by four 1N HPGP thrusters and ADN propellant, providing the highest performance in the liquid monopropellant market.

To date, 19 propulsion systems have been delivered to Planet of which 13 have been successfully deployed and are operating in orbit. Earlier successful launches in this series are:

• SkySat 3 – Launched in June 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India (Antrix’s PSLV, C-34)

• SkySats 4-7 – Launched in September 2016 from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana (Arianespace’s Vega, 007)

• SkySats 8-13 – Launched in October 2017 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA (Orbital ATK’s Minotaur-C, 010)

• SkySats 14-15 – Launched in December 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA (SpaceX’s Falcon 9, 064)

1N HPGP Thrusters

Bradford Space and ECAPS continues manufacturing and delivery of the high performance (HPGP) 1N thruster for our satellite customers’ attitude and orbit control needs. We are happy to have a large number of these thrusters on order, in production and at the customer. These include:

• Preparatory activities for Moog’s first SL-OMV mission out of the United Kingdom with a scheduled delivery of 6 units in Q3, 2020. For more information about this mission, see Small Launch Orbital Manoeuvring Vehicle will Enable UK Launched Small Satellite Missions.

• Eight 1N HPGP High Throughput systems for the first Astranis micro-GEO mission. Targeting delivery by Q3 and ready for launch Q1, 2021 this program will feature an innovative combined HPGP / EP system.

• Twelve thrusters delivered to VACCO in Q4 2019 and the latest four have been delivered in March 2020 for use on Millennium Space Systems ALTAIR spacecraft.

• Four thrusters delivered to NanoAvionics in early May 2020.

• A double-capacity SkySat-like system is being engineered and built at Bradford Space in the Netherlands for York Space Systems, US, with a scheduled delivery in Q2, 2021.

Other Upcoming Missions Equipped with ECAPS Thrusters

• The Astroscale ELSA-d, launching in October 2020 (TBC), will have eight 1N HPGP thrusters.

• Fueling of the ArgoMoon subsystem, built by VACCO and powered by one ECAPS 100mN thruster with ADN propellant, is scheduled to be “fueled at the factory” at one of the ECAPS facilities in Sweden in Q4, 2020.

• One tailored SkySat system, comprising four ECAPS 1N HPGP thrusters on the Blue Canyon Tetra-3 mission for launch in Q1, 2021

For more information, please contact: media@ecaps.se

Six ECAPS Propulsion Systems Commissioned Into Service

November 21, 2017

Following the launch of six Planet SkySats on a Minotaur-C rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base on October 31st, 2017, Bradford ECAPS announces the successful commissioning of all six propulsion systems from ECAPS, including firings of the 1 Newton maneuvering thrusters. This was confirmed through a series of tests and maneuvers conducted by Planet from November 7 to November 16. The successful launch, deployment and commissioning takes the number of successful spacecraft with ECAPS thrusters to 12 and the number of ECAPS thrusters on orbit to 48. The spacecraft constellation will be used to further Planet’s mission to provide geospatial information to its customers.

Said Mathias Persson, Business Director of Bradford ECAPS, the builder of the propulsion subsystems and thrusters “We are very pleased to see the successful commissioning of our subsystems. It is fantastic to see the fruits of all the hard work between our employees and our suppliers and, of course, our partner Planet”.

Said Pete Friedhoff, Propulsion Lead for Planet, “We’ve successfully completed commissioning of the newest six ECAPS systems on SkySat-8 through SkySat-13. The propulsion modules are healthy and performing nominally. I’m extremely pleased with the operational performance of the 11 ECAPS systems across Planet’s SkySat fleet.”

ECAPS’ High Performance Green Propulsion technology is an emerging choice by spacecraft manufacturers as an enhanced alternative to existing hydrazine based solutions. The system provides a unique high-density storage, is high-performant and, due to the low-toxicity and low sensitivity of the propellant, easy to transport and handle. These unique assets provide manufacturers and operators potentially profound savings through the elimination of launch-site fueling and enhancing overall spacecraft payload mass. In addition to further SkySats, ECAPS thrusters are slated to be part of satellite missions in the US and Asia to be launched in the next two years.

Upcoming Launch Represents a Major Milestone for Clean and Non-Toxic Spacecraft Propulsion

October 11, 2017

An upcoming launch of an Orbital ATK Minotaur-C rocket will be carrying six Planet SkySat earth observation satellites, each equipped with ECAPS-built (www.ecaps.space) propulsion systems. This will be the most significant launch to date for ECAPS ‘green’ high performance propulsion systems, which increases payload carrying capability for spacecraft builders while offering a high performance but non-toxic and easy and safe-to-handle solution to their needs. And while several orbiting spacecraft currently use ECAPS, such as the European PRISMA and previous elements of the Planet SkySat constellation, this will be the largest deployment to date of ‘green’ non-toxic spacecraft propulsion.

Most spacecraft to date have typically employed maneuvering thrusters which use hydrazine, a simple and effective but highly toxic and dangerous fuel. Handling and transporting hydrazine has typically been a very costly and dangerous activity, a fact that often makes space missions even more expensive and complicated than they already are. Special hazard suits, handling procedures, facilities and expensive special-purpose transport planes are common. ECAPS, however, uses a propellant blend (LMP-103S) that is so safe that it can be transported on commercial aircraft and be handled with only simple safety measures. In addition, the blend is higher density than hydrazine, a fact that helps ECAPS be more efficient than hydrazine while being cleaner and lower cost. The higher efficiency allows for spacecraft to have longer lives in space or carry larger payloads.

The ECAPS system was developed in Sweden by the company of the same name over the course of most of the last two decades. After incubating within the Swedish government-owned Swedish Space Corporation, ECAPS was acquired earlier this year and merged with Bradford (www.bradford-space.com), a Netherlands-based builder and developer of propulsion subsystems and attitude control systems. Bradford and ECAPS are both owned by AIAC, a privately-held US-based global industrial group.

Said Ian Fichtenbaum, Director of Bradford and AIAC’s space and satellite specialist: “This is truly an international collaboration of European and American companies and technologies coming together to make going to space an ecologically friendly endeavor. We are very happy to be involved in this ground-breaking technology”

The Minotaur launch is scheduled to occur October 31st, 2017 out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Key members of AIAC, ECAPS and Bradford will be in attendance, in addition to teams from Planet and Orbital ATK.

ECAPS Performs “Green” Propellant Loading

September 26, 2017

Bradford ECAPS has now performed the first US “green” propellant satellite fuelling campaign within the Orbital ATK facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California. During this campaign, six SkySats (Planet Labs Inc.) were fuelled with LMP-103S propellant. The propellant handling, including the loading of the satellites, was regarded as non-hazardous operations by the range safety. Only the dynamic gas pressurisation operations of the propulsion systems were judged as hazardous.

The fuelling operations were completed by a four-man crew within a seven day week from arrival to pressurisation of the last satellite. The crew was a team of personnel from Bradford ECAPS, MOOG and NASA. Only simple personal protective equipment (PPE) for handling of regular chemicals was used during the operations, while traditional propellants require so called SCAPE operations. The propellant was transported by a passenger aircraft from Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Sweden, to Los Angeles International Airport, which would be impossible for a Hydrazine propellant.

The six SkySats are scheduled to be launched from VAFB on an Orbital ATK Minotaur-C rocket on October 31. Bradford ECAPS is the result of a recent acquisition of the Swedish company ECAPS AB by the Bradford Holding Company Ltd., which is the controlling shareholder of Bradford BV in Netherlands.

ECAPS is known for their low-toxic, so called “green”, alternative to existing hydrazine based space propulsion solutions. The High Performance Green Propulsion (HPGP) technology includes the monopropellant LMP-103S and thrusters optimized for this propellant.

The HPGP technology is space proven by the PRISMA mission launched in 2010, followed by the launches of one SkySat from India and four SkySats from French Guyana during 2016.