Busek Co. Inc., founded in 1985, is an American aerospace manufacturer specializing in high-performance electric propulsion systems for spacecraft. They are a leading source of advanced electric propulsion thrusters like Hall-effect thrusters, electrospray thrusters and RF ion engines, providing these for military, government, and commercial satellites. Busek's thrusters have been used on missions with NASA (including the Artemis program), ESA, the US Air Force, and OneWeb, and they partner with organizations like Maxar and Moog. Associated keywords include electric propulsion, space propulsion, thrusters, and satellite technology.
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NASA has selected proposals for three-year, fixed-price contracts from seven companies, including Astroscale U.S. Inc. in Denver, BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems, Inc. in Boulder, Colorado, Busek Co. Inc in Natick, Massachusetts, L3Harris Technologies Inc. in Rochester, New York, Lockheed Martin Inc. in Palo Alto, California, Northrop Grumman Inc. in Redondo Beach, California, and Zecoat Co. Inc. in Granite City, Illinois.
The BHT-1500 from Busek can use xenon, krypton, or iodine as propellant.
The BHT-1500 from Busek has a discharge power of 1500 W, a throttle range of 1000-2700 W, a device mass of 6.3 kg, and a cathode mass of 0.3 kg.
Busek of Natick, Massachusetts received $3,400,000 to develop a High Total Impulse BET-MAX System for small-sat deorbiting using a non-toxic propellant and autonomous de-orbit functionality.
The on-orbit commissioning of Busek BHT-350 thrusters on 80 OneWeb satellites was completed earlier 2023.
The Busek BHT-350 thrusters on OneWeb satellites are performing electric orbit-raising, collision avoidance, and station-keeping for the constellation.
Airbus OneWeb Satellites purchased thrusters from Russia-based EDB Fakel and Busek prior to the war in Ukraine.
Busek is producing 6-kilowatt Hall-effect thrusters for the NASA lunar Gateway Power and Propulsion Element being built by Maxar Technologies.
More than 100 Busek BHT-350 Hall-effect thrusters are operating in orbit on OneWeb communications satellites.
Busek increased its thruster production after Western sanctions prevented OneWeb from buying Fakel thrusters.
Busek operates the world’s lowest-noise thrust stand with noise levels below 0.1 µN/rt-Hz in the 1 mHz to 100 mHz bandwidth.
Busek develops and manufactures high-performance in-space thrusters, sensors, and subsystems.
Busek built the first U.S. Hall thruster to fly in space.
Busek's Green Monopropellant Thrusters use a patented monolithic catalyst and are available in sizes ranging from 0.1 N to 22 N class.
Busek operates over 33,000 square feet of engineering, laboratory, product assembly, and testing facility space across two locations.
Busek designates ASCENT as the default green monopropellant, which has 10% higher specific impulse and 45% greater density than hydrazine.
Busek's thruster portfolio includes Hall thrusters, electrospray thrusters, RF ion thrusters, and monopropellant thrusters developed and assembled in-house.
Busek's flight heritage includes products developed for AFRL TacSat-2, USAFA FalconSat-3, FalconSat-5, and NASA/ESA LISA Pathfinder.
Busek performed krypton propellant testing of the BHT-1500 at its T8 facility to determine performance and operating efficiency.
Busek introduced the BHT-1500, a 2kW-class Hall Effect thruster for geostationary orbit satellites.