Mission extension
Use safe, unpressurized liquid water propellant to counteract atmospheric drag and extend orbital lifetime on compact smallsat buses.
Alpha Centauri Technologies Inc. · Smallsat Propulsion R&D (TRL 2)
Compact water-steam propulsion for small satellites.
InductoJet is an electrothermal water-steam micro-thruster concept for PocketQube and CubeSat platforms. Liquid water is stored unpressurized, boiled in a preheated coil, and superheated via contactless inductive heating of a co-printed susceptor before expanding through a converging-diverging nozzle.
Collision avoidance
Millinewton-class thrust targets for conjunction response on small satellites that cannot carry conventional high-pressure cold-gas or hazardous chemical systems.
Active de-orbiting
A compact, non-pressurized water architecture designed to support 5-year post-mission disposal compliance without range-safety pressure-vessel waivers.
Theoretical Specifications (TRL 2 Model)
First-order analytical targets
All performance figures below are theoretical 1-D model targets pending laboratory hardware characterization and thrust-stand measurement.
Specific impulse (theoretical)
90 to 118
s
Thrust (theoretical)
1 to 2
mN
Input power (theoretical)
2 to 10
W
Thruster head envelope
5 × 5 × 1
cm
Total impulse & propellant mass
Set by mission water tank volume (target envelope under evaluation; no thrust or Isp performance has been measured yet).
Current Maturity (TRL 2)
Analytical model and first printed test pieces.
-
Lab
Founder-operated bench equipment includes SLA and FFF 3D printers, induction driver electronics, oscilloscope, clamp meter, and thermal instrumentation.
-
Analysis
First-order 1-D thermal, induction-coupling, and nozzle flow modeling complete (TRL 2).
-
Fabrication
Initial high-temperature polymer (PPS) channel and nozzle test pieces printed on a desktop FFF printer; internal bore and throat dimensions under inspection.
-
Next gate
Dry induction-coupling calorimetry (S2-CAL-01), followed by atmospheric steam flow and mass-loss thrust characterization.
Development Roadmap
From bench calorimetry to flight qualification.
- Dry induction-coupling calorimetry (S2-CAL-01)
- Bore measurement and leak/pressure verification
- Atmospheric steam generation and mass-flow test
- 1-D lever-arm thrust characterization
- Valve, unpressurized reservoir, and planned digital control interface (I2C/CAN)
- Vacuum chamber qualification and flight demonstration
Contact
Connect with the InductoJet team.
For SBIR/STTR research collaboration, smallsat bus integration discussions, or technical inquiries, reach Principal Investigator Shomir Banerjee directly.
Founder & Principal Investigator
Shomir Banerjee, MD, MSEE
Mailing Address
PO Box 2522, Monterey, CA 93942