Bradford Space to move thruster manufacture to Luxembourg

Bradford Space, the American parent company of Luxembourg-based Deep Space Industries, is to move production of its small satellite thrusters to the grand duchy because of a more “supportive financing”.

Cited by on Tuesday, Bradford Space managing director Patrick van Put says that the “Luxembourg ecosystem allows more supportive financing of the venture of improving the technology, transferring the technology and building a facility.”

The thrusters use Comet propulsion technology, which was acquired through the buyout of Deep Space Industries in 2019.

With funding secured through LuxImpulse, an R&D programme and with the support of the Luxembourg Space Agency, Bradford Space is reportedly updating the Comet technology for better performance. According to the article, Bradford plans to be ready to deliver flight systems from Luxembourg in 2023.

Delano contacted Deep Space Industries for more information. At the time of writing, they had not responded.

Since the creation of SpacesRessources.lu in 2016, the Luxembourg economy ministry has been officially trying to diversify its economy by forging a new space eco system. In 2018, Luxembourg launched its space agency and today the country is home to around 50 space companies or research labs.