Ionic Liquid Electrospray: New Space Propulsion Technology

The Accion Difference:
Ionic Liquid Electrospray

Our approach is fundamentally different from conventional electric propulsion systems. Learn how it works.

Understanding the technology behind Tiled Ionic Liquid Electrospray (TILE)

Power Processing Unit
Our electronics are designed to maximize power conversion efficiency and limit waste heat, and can be mounted apart from the propellant supply and thruster chips.
Propellant Supply Tank
Our fuel source is an inert, non-toxic ionic liquid salt, stored in a low-pressure container similar to an inkjet cartridge.
Thruster Chips
Our thruster chips can emit both the positive and negative ions existing in the ionic liquid, eliminating the need for bulky ionization chambers and failure-prone external cathodes.
Ion Emitter Tips
Each thruster chip is arrayed with hundreds of microscopic ion emitters. Ionic liquid is wicked to the emitter tips from the tanks below through capillary action.
Ion Extractor Grid
A grid above the emitters applies intense electric fields to extract and accelerate ions from the emitter tips.
Accelerated Ion Beams
Neutral beams of ions are ejected at high speeds from the thruster chip to propel the spacecraft in the opposite direction.

	TILE	FEEP	Hall Effect	Gridded Ion
Low Power Operation Propulsion is throttleable and can stably operate at almost any power level.
Low Pressure Propellant Propellant is stored in lightweight tanks with no explosive risk.
Inert Propellant No deposition of metal films on sensors, solar panels or other critical equipment.
No External Cathode External cathodes are prone to failure and draw additional power.
High Thermal Efficiency Unmatched power efficiency eliminates complex thermal routing requirements.
No Warm Up Periods No need to warm up the propellant — fire on demand after commissioning once.
Compact Design Eliminating ionization chambers, high-pressure valves, and flow controllers leaves a small, lightweight, modular system.