Member Companies

Accion Systems

The In-Space Propulsion Company

Greentown Alumni

About the Company

Accion Systems was founded to accelerate the exploration of space. To fulfill this mission, Accion’s experienced team develops in-space propulsion technologies that optimize scalability, performance, and efficiency. Accion’s flagship product, TILE, uses proprietary electrospray thrusters, bringing electric propulsion to satellites of all sizes and redefining in-space capabilities for the 21st century.

Accion’s thrusters take a different approach to generating ions, compared to traditional ion engines.

About the Solution
Ionic Liquid

Accion’s thrust-producing ions are supplied from its ionic liquid propellant—a safe, non-toxic liquid salt. This novel source of ions allows Accion to avoid the use of large ionization chambers, pressurized tanks, bulky valves, and external cathodes.

Thruster “Chips”

Accion’s technology is built around a thruster “chip” architecture. Each chip houses hundreds of microscopic emitters that produce beams of ions generated from the company’s novel propellant source: ionic liquid.

Generating Thrust

Similar to traditional ion engines, Accion’s systems produce thrust by using electric fields to accelerate ions. Ions leave the thruster chips through small holes in the extractor grids over each chip and propel the spacecraft in the opposite direction.