Join the first crowdsourced mission to explore a destination of your choice in the far reaches of space.
The Big Idea: Inexpensive CubeSat Propulsion
Our vision is to enable extremely low-cost access to deep space. We are developing the CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT), a new rocket propulsion system powered by the Sun and propelled by water, which will push small spacecraft like CubeSats around and far beyond the Earth. New propulsion technologies can cost billions of dollars and take a decade to build and launch. CAT will be one of least expensive and most rapidly developed deep-space-capable systems ever built.
Why CAT Matters: The Future of Space Exploration
Space exploration has traditionally been expensive, many spacecraft launched today are the size of a truck and can cost over $1 billion dollars. CAT will be tested on a CubeSat, a small satellite the size of a loaf of bread. CubeSats cost 1,000 to 10,000 times less to develop and launch than conventional satellites. As scientific and commercial space technologies get exponentially smaller, it becomes easier (and less expensive) to place small but powerful sensors on a CubeSat platform. The CAT engine can propel this miniaturized equipment to exciting new locations previously unreachable at such a low price.
Social: Spread The Word, You’re Going To Space
Click to go to www.GoBluePlasma.com for links to our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages. Also find links to our patents and technical information. Use #GoBluePlasma, #space and #CATengine during the campaign to join in the conversation. After the campaign, we'll continue to provide updates so you can follow along with the progress of YOUR space mission.
Funding: Why Kickstarter and Where Does My Money Go?
Summary - Funding from Kickstarter will allow us to test CAT in space.
Traditional university research funding starts with seed data, a small seed grant, a government grant and a large number of gates to go through over many years. We’d like to leverage Kickstarter funds to compress that timeline and go from initial seed data to flight in about 18 months, a much faster time scale than is possible with traditional grants. We love the idea of “Citizen Explorers” helping fund this project and are excited to have our backers be part of the journey.
While we have obtained some external funding, this mission may never happen without your help. Research funding is notoriously slow and filled with red tape. Technology demonstration missions can take over ten years to go from concept to launch. We want todo more faster, getting CAT from the drawing board to space in record time. With your help, we will be assembling everything into one compact thruster unit and testing integrated components in the lab, then in Earth orbit. If we reach stretch goals, we could be testing CAT in interplanetary space at a destination of your choice!
Our base funding goal of $50,000 is enough to add specialized equipment to the satellite to observe the plasma plume ejected by the CAT engine. Integrating a high-resolution camera and associated subsystems is critical to validate our theories on plasma flow along a magnetic nozzle and complete our test matrix when CAT is on-orbit. Because this is an entirely new type of engine, we need a camera in order to directly observe how the super heated plasma follows the magnetic nozzle and then detaches to create thrust. Without a camera we can’t know precisely when the plasma is being created. Basically, we need to see the engine actually creating plasma to verify our assumptions. On Earth it’s easy for us to observe the plasma during testing, but in space it’s much more difficult.
The CAT engine is being developed at the University of Michigan’s Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL), the ultimate playground for rocket scientists. Here, we will test the thruster in a vacuum and thermal environment as close to space as we can achieve on the ground.
Technical Details: Water As Fuel and The Science Behind CAT
We live in a world of 20-30 mpg of fossil fuels. “Powered by the Sun and propelled by water” sounds like science fiction right? With CAT technology, solar-powered spacecraft can someday average over 1 billion miles per gallon using only water for fuel.
To date, only a few satellites have explored our vast Solar System. Once the CAT engine is proven, CubeSats will finally have the potential to reach deep space, something that has never been achieved. Currently, CubeSats piggyback to orbit on larger rockets. Once in space, they drift around Earth, trapped in their original orbit until they eventually de-orbit and burn up in the atmosphere. The CAT engine will extend the life of these CubeSats around Earth and will finally allow CubeSats to reach destinations far beyond Earth orbit.
CAT is currently at NASA Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3, meaning we are in the midst of performing experiments to probe its feasibility, thanks to private sponsorship. We need your help to get all the way to TRL 8: A full-fledged demonstration of CAT’s capabilities in space. For the first test we will use xenon, a heavy, inert gas which is the industry standard for electric propulsion, to benchmark its performance. If we reach our stretch goals we’ll be able to develop the water propellant storage system that will make CAT a fully sustainable thruster.
Plasma thrusters have been used on satellites for decades, but they have been bulky devices weighing up to 10 kg (20 lbs), suitable only for large satellites such as Deep Space 1 and Dawn. The CAT design scales down previously demonstrated technology to make it practical for CubeSats, with a total weight of less than 0.5 kg (1 lb). Bam, miniaturization! The CubeSat for the CAT engine will be based off of existing and provenLEO and deep space flight technologies from the RAX-2 and INSPIRE CubeSats.
Here’s a detailed look at the principles behind the CAT engine: Just like a normal rocket that produces thrust from the burning and expansion of hot gases, CAT produces thrust from the expansion of a super-heated 350,000 °C plasma stream. Plasma is an ionized gas that can be accelerated to produce thrust (F=ma). The force generated by this thruster will be very low (micro-newtons) but very efficient. The engine will be turned on for long durations, accelerating the spacecraft to much higher velocities than a typical chemical rocket. Our first test will use xenon, a safe, non-toxic gas typically used in large-scale plasma thrusters. With support from you, we can begin work on our long-term goal of designing a water-based propellant system to make the first truly sustainable plasma propulsion device for CubeSats.
Still thirsty for more technical info? Check out our homepage (www.GoBluePlasma.com) and bask in the glory of the rocket science behind CAT.
Rewards: An Interplanetary Message in a Bottle
We were inspired by the famous Voyager spacecraft, traveling beyond the reach of our solar system. When Voyager was launched in 1977, scientists attached a Gold Record to it, with the following message:
In return for your support, we’ll provide you with a unique opportunity to get exclusive rewards. At many pledge levels, your message (initials, tweets, love notes, messages to ET, original song lyrics, location of the buried treasure) will be laser etched into a gold layer on the exterior spacecraft panels, exposed directly to the vacuum of space as homage to the Voyager Gold Record.
Your messages will be cast away from the Earth as a permanent record in space, the ultimate interplanetary “message in a bottle.” If we reach our stretch goals, we estimate that your name or message could last for millions of years, drifting among the stars. We will even return pictures and data from space directly to our backers.
Other rewards include stickers and mission patches, exclusive pictures, T-shirts, moon-mission inspired playing cards, limited edition plaques and fashion accessories, and even live classes for students, offering young minds a new perspective on the universe.
The MISSION CONTROL pledge level provides a personal tour and (if the stars align) a chance to push some buttons and fire a real rocket engine here on Earth.
MOONSHOT rewards include an opportunity to launch an MXL Project Strato high-altitude balloon carrying a personal item of your choice to near space (over 90,000 feet) and go on the exciting chase with fellow space enthusiast Dhani Jones.
The lucky backer who pledges for GO BUTTON will get a one-of-a kind engineering model of the first CAT spacecraft and will have the chance to fire the CAT engine in space, initiating mission maneuvers.
Schedule: Countdown To Launch
We are working to complete and vacuum-test a flight-qualified satellite with an integrated CAT. With Kickstarter funding, the spacecraft will be launched into Low Earth Orbit for CAT testing and verification. Testing will validate the CAT engine's performance and physics models developed by our team. Once these tests are completed, we will perform a series of spiral-out flight maneuvers to climb to higher and higher altitudes. If we make our stretch goals, we will continue our spiral trajectory in order to escape the Earth and reach the Moon, Mars or even an asteroid for research purposes.
In the coming weeks we will be performing initial plasma tests with the permanent magnets installed. Once the prototype is functioning, we will package it into the CubeSat shell by the end of 2013. Rigorous testing in the first quarter of 2014 will evaluate the performance of the thruster and provide insight as we design and build a flight model. We have secured a launch in late 2014 and are on track to meet that goal, but we can’t do it without your help!
After launch, the satellite-mounted camera will be used for visual diagnosis of the plasma thruster. Visual inspection will be critical for the initial testing of the thruster. Then, once the thruster is operational, the camera can be turned toward the earth to share breathtaking photos with enthusiastic backers.
Endorsements: Friends and Partners Show Their Support
"A tiny high-efficiency engine will enable Deep Space Industries to launch a small fleet of asteroid prospecting spacecraft, searching out targets with valuable volatiles and metals for the New Space frontier. We support this kickstarter for the astonishing low-cost capabilities this nano-size thruster will deliver for solar system exploration and development."
"In-space propulsion technologies employing water, like the [CAT], will be of increasing importance as access to water from volatile-rich asteroids becomes reality."
"CubeSats are altering the paradigm of space exploration, and we are incredibly excited whenever we get to see a development that can quite literally take the next step in that evolution! The CAT thruster would offer a wealth of new opportunities, and we're truly excited to be a part of making it a reality."
“Ever since I was young I dreamed of going to space. [The University of] Michigan seemed about as far away as outer space, and little did I know they had such an amazing role in the history of the space program. This project is the beginning of a dream, and I am so happy to see my university engaged in such awe-inspiring work.”
Risks and challenges
In the world of cutting edge research, sometimes there are issues that can result from technical difficulties, launch delays, and communication challenges. These are just some of the known risks that may lie ahead. Fortunately, our team is prepared to tackle these difficult issues. Our backers must understand that the CAT Mission may become delayed for any number of reasons. CAT may also have technical difficulties in orbit, be assimilated, or get blown up by a Death Star. For reference, here’s a link to our absolute worst-case scenario (http://goo.gl/K1ZUd). We will keep our backers updated regularly regarding our continued progress towards overcoming such difficult hurdles. We appreciate your patience.
