News

Our research project, iFACT, has come to an end, but it was such a joy and we were proud to deliver brilliant research findings! The strong, interdisciplinary research team worked towards developing and demonstrating key building blocks that enable, at very low risk, the use of iodine as a propellant for electric propulsion in space missions.

Join us for the International Electric Propulsion Conference (IEPC) 2022!

The IEPC 2022 is taking place in Boston and Cambridge, USA, on 19-23, June 2022 with sessions being held on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's campus.

The European Aeronautics Science Network’s most recent newsletter is featuring iFACT. If you are interested in the activities our project has been involved in so far, you may discover our news up to date through the iFACT dedicated article here.

Enjoy the reading!

The EPIC Workshop 2022 took place from 04 to 08 April 2022 at the DLR site in Cologne-Porz, Germany bringing together more than 300 professionals in the field of space electric propulsion from around Europe. The iFACT coordinator, Dr. Franz Georg Hey (Airbus Defense & Space), attended the hybrid event, presented “Disruptive Line – EPIC Project iFACT” on the 5th of April and participated in panel discussions.

iFACT participated in the 11th EASN Virtual International Conference 2021 on the 3rd of September 2021. Our project coordinator, Dr. Franz Georg Hey, spoke at the event as part of the “EPIC SRC projects joint session: iFACT, NEMESIS, GIESEPP, EDDA” panel.

The iFACT team of researchers is excited to announce that we have successfully reached the important 1000 hours milestone of continuous operation of the iodine Fed Advanced Cusp Field Thruster (iFACT).

Electronic, mechanical, and thermal properties of [Ca24Al28O64]4+(4e−) electride ceramic.

The scientific peer-reviewed paper of our iFACT colleagues - Katja Waetzig and Jochen Schilm- under the title "Electronic, mechanical, and thermal properties of [Ca24Al28O64]4+(4e−) electride ceramic" is out. The article was published in Ceramic Engineering & Science on the 30th of June and it is available in open access through the following link.

Our project coordinator, Dr. Franz Georg Hey, has produced an exciting video that captures the Advanced Cusp Field Thruster (ACFT) firing with iodine.

The video about the iFACT  Advanced Cusp Field Thruster firing with xenon is now online on our youtube channel! Watch it at this link or below!

It is the end of summer and the EASN Association is publishing the second edition for 2020 of its quarterly e-newsletter. This August issue presents all the latest aeronautics news and a special article presenting the iFACT project to the EASN network peers.

Enjoy the reading here .