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Phase Four’s Maxwell Block 1 engine gained flight heritage in 2021 and is currently operating on several commercial small satellites.
Phase Four’s RF Thruster is propellant agnostic and is designed to operate with novel propellants.
Phase Four's Maxwell Block 1 engine gained flight heritage in 2021 and is currently operating on several commercial small satellites.
The DARPA contract involving Phase Four was announced on 2022-02-16.
Phase Four plans to begin delivering its second-generation thrusters, Maxwell Block 2, in June.
Phase Four plans to begin delivering its second-generation thrusters to customers later in 2025.
Phase Four will work with Orbit Fab to evaluate the refueling potential of traditional electric propulsion propellants such as xenon for Maxwell engines.
The agreement between Phase Four and Orbit Fab was announced on 2022-01-24.
Phase Four modified the Maxwell thruster operating frequency, propellant flow rates, and other engineering constraints to achieve the Block 2 performance improvements.
Phase Four spent the last two years developing the original Block 1 thruster and building up a production line for them.
Phase Four’s original Block 1 Maxwell thruster has flight experience on several spacecraft, including those operated by Capella.
Phase Four won a contract on 2021-08-18 at the U.S. Space Force’s first SpaceWERX Pitch Day to fuel its Maxwell engine with the green propellant ASCENT developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.
Phase Four seeks to produce a Maxwell engine that offers both the high-thrust capabilities of chemical propulsion and the high-efficiency capabilities of electric propulsion.
Phase Four is partnering with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and working closely with NASA to advance iodine electric propulsion.
In 2021, Phase Four received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant funded by AFWERX to develop the first electrodeless iodine plasma thruster in the United States.
Phase Four has sent four Maxwell engines to space with Capella Space since 2021-01-24.
Capella Space has developed a working relationship with Phase Four over the past two years.
Phase Four collaborated with Capella Space to develop, enhance, produce, launch, and operate its first Maxwell Block 1 propulsion systems.
Two Capella satellites launched on the SpaceX Transporter-1 rideshare flight in January provided the first on-orbit evidence of Phase Four’s Maxwell technology.
Capella Space launched its fourth synthetic aperture radar satellite on 2021-06-30 on the SpaceX Transporter-2 rideshare flight carrying a Maxwell electric thruster manufactured by Phase Four.