As many as 40,000 small satellites are projected to enter LEO in the next decade. In a recent podcast episode, Constellations spoke with Kevin Lausten, President of Morpheus Space, about the demand for satellite mobility, the technology behind propulsion, and the variety of applications for smallsat designs.

The Case for Satellite Mobility

“Space is becoming increasingly congested, contested and competitive,” said Lausten. “With the increase in volume in spacecraft, there’s a dramatic expansion in the need for space mobility.” Satellites launched to LEO need to be aware of other spacecraft around them, as well as able to maneuver to avoid collision.

“A conjunction between two spacecraft would be highly problematic for everyone who’s operating in low Earth orbit,” said Lausten. Debris left over from a collision can be dangerous and deadly. But successful collision avoidance includes tech that allows a satellite to move out of the orbital plane of an incoming spacecraft.

Propulsion would allow satellites to actively de-orbit. Traditionally, gravity does the majority of the work at the end of a satellite’s mission life, which often leaves debris hanging in orbit for an undetermined period of time. Instead, “satellite operators really need to be thinking about how to have sufficient propulsion and fuel onboard to be able to actively de-orbit,” said Lausten. This includes propelling the satellite out of orbit and allowing it to burn up on re-entry in a controlled manner.

Supporting the Smallsat Takeover

The greatest challenge in supporting the projected influx of smallsats will be developing scalable and reliable systems. “You need to be able to manufacture it,” said Lausten, “but you also need to scale, produce the necessary satellite buses, the components including propulsion, and deliver those on a consistent basis.” This is a challenging transition, as smallsat manufacturing and support is a boutique industry. Successfully translating it into a high throughput manufacturing industry will be difficult, but not impossible.

“We’re seeing companies like SpaceX demonstrate the ability to take an idea and then scale it out to thousands of spacecraft in a matter of years,” said Lausten. And sectors like the automotive industry have successful high throughput manufacturing techniques; it’s simply a matter of applying them to space. It’s also a matter of making these systems reliable.

When it comes to building smallsats that will function effectively on a long time frame, “there’s really no margin for error,” said Lausen. “It’s really difficult to service a spacecraft once it’s up there. IIf you break down on the side of the road, you’re on Earth, you send a tow truck.” But in space, there is no truck—at least, not yet.

“I’m excited about some of the new companies and the new technologies that are coming online to do in-space servicing,” Lausten said. But for now, “the way to combat the early days of in-space servicing is to build reliable technology.” Electric propulsion could be a part of the solution. Unlike other methods like chemical or nuclear propulsion, electric propulsion is known for having good “gas mileage,” and is typically more reliable, runs for longer durations, and allows smallsats to make maneuvers.

Emerging Use Cases

Traditional use cases include communications, Earth observation and GPS. But emerging applications include important new features like rendezvous and proximity operations. This includes “approaching a spacecraft and taking an observation of that spacecraft,” said Lausten. RPO is getting a lot of attention from the federal government, as it would allow satellites to “observe our own spacecraft, and then understand what else is going on up in the far reaches of space.”

Mobility in smallsats would also help monitor and address the problem of space debris. “If there’s a spare tire sitting in the middle of the 405, someone’s got to come along and get that out of there,” said Lausten. “And first thing you got to do is cruise on up to the spare tire. And then pick it up. And then carry it off the highway.” All of these require mobility.

Many new and innovative ideas are coming to the table right now. “I’ve heard a number of them this week [at Smallsat Symposium] that are really exciting and give me a lot of optimism around the success of the space economy,” said Lausten. “It’s not just about Earth observation and communications or positioning.”

This could even include tech that will push the space economy far away from Earth’s atmosphere and into deep space. “To get there, we need reliable, scalable propulsion technologies,” said Lausten. “They’ll allow us to get to the Moon, to get to Mars, to get to the outer reaches of our solar system.”

To hear more about electric propulsion technology and the business case for smallsat, listen to the full episode here.

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