Vigoride MomentusAlexander Wicks is the Chief Development Officer at the California-based startup Momentus Space. Momentus is developing the in-space equivalent of the connecting flight we all know from airline operations.

To affordably launch small satellites into orbit, operators and manufacturers of small satellites are generally forced to share a ride on one big rocket. This approach is economical, but has one major downside: not every satellite on the ride share can be launched into its ideal orbit. Momentus is developing the transfer vehicle that then allows a satellite to reach its customisable orbit 10 times cheaper than booking a dedicated launch on the first vehicle. This capability essentially allows the next generation of satellites to reach previously unreachable locations more efficiently and more inexpensively than before.

The transfer vehicle that Momentus is developing is powered by water plasma propulsion, and the same propulsion technology also opens the door to the next phase of space exploration. For example, missions into deep space, water prospecting and delivery throughout the solar system, in-space manufacturing, and space tourism. In this episode of the podcast you will learn about:

  • how Momentus got started
  • the need and benefits of Momentus’ transfer vehicle
  • the principles of water plasma propulsion
  • and the types of missions the technology enables

This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is brought to you by my patrons on Patreon. Patreon is a way for me to receive regular donations from listeners whenever I release a new episode, and with the help of these generous donors I have been able to pay for much of the expenses, hosting and travels costs that accrue in the production of this podcast. If you would like to support the podcast as a patron, then head over to my Patreon page. There are multiple levels of support, but anything from $1 an episode is highly appreciated. Thank you for your support!


Selected Links from the Episode

Tagged with:
 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Want to learn more about aerospace engineering?

Then give our email list a try!
We’ll send you one email a month with a digest of the newest posts from us and interesting aerospace articles from around the web.