Building the future of space propulsion: How we developed our in-house test facility

By Shane Albances

In the competitive landscape of space technology, agility and speed of innovation are paramount. At Space Machines Company, we made a strategic decision to invest in developing our own satellite propulsion system as well as establishing a propulsion test facility — a capability that has already proven instrumental in accelerating our product development cycles.

Why build our own?

The journey began with a clear business objective: developing a low-cost, highly manufacturable satellite network. When examining the constituent parts of a satellite, we identified the propulsion system as an opportunity to optimise for cost, performance, reliability and manufacturability.

Rather than compromising with off-the-shelf solutions that wouldn’t fully meet our requirements, we committed to developing our own propulsion system. The Scintilla engine — named from the Latin word for “spark” to reflect its ignition process — was conceived specifically for our Viper vehicle.

This commitment meant facing the inherent risks of new product development, but it also presented an opportunity to create something perfectly aligned with our mission. One critical challenge quickly became apparent: relying on third-party testing facilities would dramatically slow our development cycles. External testing facilities are expensive, require strict scheduling, and offer limited flexibility — constraints that would hamper our ability to iterate product development quickly.

The solution was clear but ambitious: develop our own in-house test capability.

From concept to reality

We established our test facility in Queensland, leveraging a site available through our Propulsion Engineering Lead. The test facility  itself is ingeniously designed with three key features:

1. Blast-proof for gas handling and safety containment
2. Automated control systems operating valves, gas supply and electrical systems
3. The main test cell where the “fun happens” –  where the thrust chamber is mounted, the fuel ignition occurs and where the thrust stream is discharged.

The team spent several months outfitting the test facility with sophisticated control systems, safety mechanisms, and diagnostic equipment. After rigorous safety assessments, we conducted our first igniter test in January, progressing to thruster testing in February.

In a remarkably compressed timeline, we’ve already advanced from initial two-second burns to thirty-second burns with our 50N Scintilla engine with plans to test up to continuous operation (minutes) in the next months.

Strategic advantages

This investment has yielded significant strategic advantages:

1. Rapid iteration: We can conduct 4-5 tests per day without external coordination barriers or additional costs.
2. Full IP control: The entire system – from the thruster chamber to the cooling systems – represents 100% Space Machines Company intellectual property.
3. Future scalability: While currently focused on our 2026 mission, the infrastructure we’ve built provides a foundation for future propulsion development and continuous improvement of propulsion systems.

Building Australia’s space ecosystem

What we’ve created is genuinely unique in Australia’s space landscape. Only a handful of private companies possess similar capabilities outside universities and large organisations. This positions Space Machines Company not just as a satellite manufacturer, but as an enabler of broader space technology development in Australia.

We are also engaged in discussions with other parties, including the government,  who are interested in utilising our test facility for their propulsion testing needs. While not our primary focus, this capability could evolve into an additional service offering that strengthens Australia’s domestic space ecosystem.

Looking forward

As we continue to advance our Scintilla flight propulsion system toward our 2026 launch target, the in-house test facility remains a critical advantage in our development process.

This journey exemplifies our team’s approach to engineering challenges: where others might see limitations, we see opportunities. The propulsion test facility is now embedded in Space Machines Company’s DNA – a testament to our commitment to solve complex problems and “figure out a way to make it happen.”

Shane Albances is VP of Engineering at Space Machines Company. This article has been reproduced with permission. The original version can be read here.