STAR (Satellite Technology and Astrodevelopment)

History

2024: Establishment of the enterprise

At the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, a small innovative enterprise was created - STAR LLC (Satellite Technologies and Astrodevelopment), the founder of which is the university itself and a group of its employees. The university announced this on August 26, 2024.

The task of the enterprise will be the serial production of propulsion systems, including plasma, designed for small spacecraft - nano- and microsatellites (CubeSat format and their analogues in size), and in the future - for spacecraft of greater mass and size.

The main thing by August 2024 is the company's product, its MVP (minimum viable product) - the VERA plasma propulsion system (Volume-Effective Rocket-propulsion Assembly) - was developed at the NRNU MEPhI Plasma Rocket Engine Laboratory. According to the developer of the device, chief engineer of STAR LLC, senior lecturer at the Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies of NRNU MEPhI Igor Egorov, engines of this type are used in outer space in low-earth orbit and perform several functions: adjust the orbit of the spacecraft, allowing to increase the life of the satellite itself and, accordingly, the payload installed on it; in addition, propulsion systems allow you to build and optimally distribute over the earth's surface devices included in multi-satellite groups; finally, the engine allows satellites with an expired active life to be carried into the Earth's atmosphere, thereby eliminating space debris from near-Earth space.

By the end of August 2024, three vehicles launched into space were already equipped with VERA propulsion systems, and among them is the own satellite NRNU MEPhI Svyatobor-1, designed for remote sensing of the Earth in terms of monitoring and controlling forest fires.

According to Evgeny Stepin, General Director of STAR, Associate Professor of NRNU MEPhI, the market Russian for engines of this type alone is about 70 units per year; this figure was obtained on the basis of a real request from potential buyers - such space companies as LLC "" and Satellite LLC Geoscan"." However, as of August 2024, the most important task of the innovative enterprise is to increase the reliability electronic engineers of the propulsion system and, in particular, the transition to a domestic electronic component base. This problem is solved both in the NRNU MEPhI itself and in the company AVEKS JSC, which is a strategic partner of NRNU MEPhI and has extensive experience in creating electronics and power supply systems for space technology.

According to Yevgeny Stepin, the first sales of the created enterprise can be carried out by the end of 2024. The engines will be assembled by company employees on the territory and infrastructure base of NRNU MEPhI.