BOOST: Advance Iodine Electric Propulsion for SmallSats and On-Orbit Servicing

BOOST (Building blOcks for iOdine thruSTers) is a research project financed by the European Union (GA-101135216). The main ambition of BOOST consists of consolidating and promoting the iodine electric propulsion technology as a key factor to boost the market of SmallSats. In the last decade, SmallSats (mass <500 kg) disrupted the space market since they allow to access space at a markedly lower cost with respect to medium-to-large systems, and this trend is expected to grow further in the next years [1]. Solid iodine propellant has proven to be an enabling technology to consolidate Electric Propulsion (EP) in the SmallSat market. Nonetheless, its widespread diffusion is still hindered by issues related to the low maturity of this technology. In order to establish the groundwork for future standardization and industrialization of iodine-based EP, a modular approach will be pursued in the frame of the BOOST project.