IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 10, 2025
Flight Works announced today that it has been selected by NASA for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to develop an efficient helium compressor for on-orbit refueling/repressurization in support of in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM). The compressor design builds upon previous Xenon compressor development effort and adapts the concept for efficient helium transfer.
At the Space & Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Ala, in August 2025, the head of U.S. Space Command endorsed a vision for gas stations in space to enable sustained space maneuver and dynamic space operations. With missions such as Tetra-5 and Tetra-6, the U.S. Space Force is investing in key technologies to demonstrate on-orbit refueling with the goal of transitioning to routine operations. China itself recently demonstrated on-orbit refueling technologies.
As part of refueling operations, repressurizing a spacecraft propulsion system is a key capability. Flight Works will adapt its Xenon compressor (itself also designed to refuel electric propulsion systems) for the higher pressures needed for efficient helium transfer and demonstrate the technology.
The technology can also serve other in-space logistics and servicing functions. The design could be adapted or tailored to electronics or optics cooling, CO2 compression, and oxygen or methane recompression. Scavenging gases for processing in habitats or sampling missions, or even deflating structures for relocation or re-entry, are other potential applications.
About Flight Works, Inc.
Flight Works provides enabling solutions from Earth to Space over a wide range of applications and markets, from life-changing medical implants to space mobility and servicing technologies. Flight Works has been serving aerospace, medical, chemical, energy and other industries with high-tech, miniature fluidic components for over twenty years and is now expanding into systems to support the emerging space mobility and servicing economy.
This program complements ongoing development of advanced micropumps and other components designed for hydrazine, hypergols and green propellants, and that of green propulsion systems such as AFRL’s Modular Propulsion System (MODPROP), and the NASA funded Orbital Maneuvering and Servicing Vehicles.
Flight Works Contact:
Andrea Besnard, Ph.D.
space@flightworksinc.com
The views expressed here are those of Flight Works and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.