The overall objective of the SME Phase 2 project was to bring the EPSS product to TRL 9, through final piloting and qualification of the technology, preparation of the production infrastructure, product commercialization, and increasing the investment readiness of NanoAvionics. Project objective was fully achieved.
Commercially available EPSS will be beneficial on European and Global scale by contributing the following major societal themes:
1. Democratizing space. According to ESA estimates, in EU and global space industry currently available high-performance propulsion systems take only 15-25% of the total conventional satellite costs while this fraction for small satellites is two times higher. EPSS will significantly reduce the price of propulsion systems and contribute to the overall affordability of small satellites. This will enable novel service and scientific research concepts for new entrants, including new space start-ups, research organizations and universities (which are very price sensitive) in a market once monopolised by large corporations and national government programs.
2. Enhance EU space industry competitiveness. EPSS would boost the European space sector and contribute to the competitiveness of the European space industry.
3. Space Debris Mitigation. Space debris is a significant threat that small satellite technologies should not negatively contribute to. As of July 2016, the United States Strategic Command tracked a total of 17,729 artificial objects, including 1,419 operational satellites in near-Earth orbit. Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) and United Nations (UN) Space Debris Mitigation have released guidelines to address this issue which highlight the importance of propulsion systems, including EPSS. Propulsion systems allow satellites to: 1) avoid collisions with current debris; 2) deorbit at the end of their mission lifetime times or use the system in de-orbiting equipment.
4. Reducing the utilization of hazardous materials. The disproportionally high infrastructure costs, toxicity, relatively poor performance and high lifetime costs of toxic propellant such as Hydrazine fosters the shift towards alternative propulsion methods therefore will be substituted by a safe, high performance green alternative.
