Out-of-this-world technology from CU Aerospace launching into space this summer

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — You could say, gravity isn't holding down the team at CU Aerospace. 

"Once you put something up there, you really can't bring it down to fix it," shared David Carroll, President of CU Aerospace. "If you want to continue to have satellite communication and capabilities — you need to keep pushing the envelope."

Carroll and his team have been working diligently on new technology called in-space propulsions. These propulsion technologies were funded and supported by NASA. By 2019, they became mature enough to take flight. 

The CU Aerospace created a satellite with new hardware to be sent into space. 'Duplex', standing for dual propulsion, is a satellite the size of a boot box. On one side, the satellite has a fiber-fed pulsed plasma thruster; on the other side, a monofilament vaporization propulsion.

"The mission will go for about two years," explained Carroll. "We'll do altitude changes with each thruster, demonstrate orbit raising, orbit lowering and collision avoidance. That's a big one."

Carroll said the active debris in space is becoming a concern for scientific space studies. The goal is to showcase their new technology, and demonstrate how it navigates low-orbit around Earth. This could benefit future trips to space.

"Just getting to the point of having a satellite is very exciting. Nothing is particularly easy ... but we make new things happen."

The satellite is being delivered to NASA in Houston, Texas in March. It will be launched into space June of 2025. 

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