Bellatrix Aerospace

Bellatrix Aerospace is a company that provides and executes research and development in space with satellite propulsion. The company was founded by Rohan Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam in 2015, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

The company is interested in reducing the cost of access to space and look to do so through their technologies and vehicles. Bellatrix Aerospace has designed a launch vehicle, named Chetak, and an electric satellite propulsion system.

The Chetak is a two stage vehicle, and with the first stage designed for reuse. The goal of the Chetak is to offer a dedicated nano-satellite launch vehicle developed to make nano-satellite launches more affordable. The first stage will use for Aeon engines that generate 41kN of thrust, and it is designed to be used for multiple restart instances. The second stage uses a single Aeon engine, and it is designed to be optimal for vacuum operation.

The satellite propulsion system that Bellatrix Propulsion offers is an electric propulsion system for satellites. The thrusters that the satellites use are electric and are unique to nano and micro satellite propulsion systems. The design for these boosters is meant to lower the cost to access to space. Their microwave electro-thermal thrusters are an electrode-less, vortex stabilized thruster where microwaves are used to heat the propellant and produce a high temperature exhaust for in-space propulsion