PERSEI Space leads an ESA sustainability system study in space transportation
ECO-Tethers: a twelve-month ESA study on propellant-free in-space propulsion and deorbiting, with Thales Alenia Space and Astroscale
PERSEI Space, as prime contractor, together with partners Thales Alenia Space and Astroscale, will lead the ECO-Tethers system study for the European Space Agency on sustainable propellant-free technologies for in-space propulsion and deorbiting using electrodynamic tethers. The work responds to ESA's Invitation to Tender 1-12998, "FIRST! Technologies in Sustainability for Future Space Transportation: System Study (Expro+2024)".
The study addresses orbital congestion by developing two connected capabilities: propellant-free orbit clearance for end-of-life disposal, and propellant-free in-space mobility for mission extension and repositioning. Over twelve months the consortium will translate use-case requirements into system-level specifications, assess integration constraints, select the most promising concepts, and establish a technology maturation roadmap with sustainability as a core design principle.
Five use cases guide the project: satellite deorbiting via electrodynamic tether devices; launcher upper-stage and mission-related object deorbiting; satellite propellant-less propulsion for reboost and station-keeping; in-orbit servicing vehicle propulsion without propellant dependency; and active debris removal "deploy-and-leave" kits for scalable multi-target campaigns.
"ECO-Tethers represents a key step in showing that sustainability in orbit is not only a regulatory requirement, but a technological opportunity," said Jesús Manuel Muñoz Tejeda, CEO of PERSEI Space.
PERSEI Space is a spin-off of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid developing electrodynamic tether technology for space debris mitigation, and was accelerated by Thales Alenia Space's Space Business Catalyst. Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo, brings more than forty years of experience in telecommunications, navigation and Earth observation, and signed ESA's Zero Debris Charter in June 2024. Astroscale France, founded in 2013, provides in-orbit services spanning inspection, servicing, mobility and debris removal.