Alpha Impulsion

𝗪𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁: 🚗 “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦” Chaiaa Djelouat recalls. During last year’s hot fire campaign, she designed the test bench and handled every engine integration throughout the campaign. But after repeated assembly & disassembly cycles during rehearsals, the combustion chamber’s threads began to fail. To put it simply: the screws were no longer able to hold the engine together. And with the final hot fire window approaching fast, we needed a solution immediately. Chaiaa suggested something unconventional: “𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤’𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱”. So that’s exactly what we did. We drove the chamber across town and brought it to two mechanics who initially had a hard time believing our story. Once the surprise subsided, they helped install new threads, and just hours before the final hot fire, the engine was fixed. When the clock is ticking, what matters is making sure the engine ready is to fire. 🚀

Live from Amsterdam, I’m at SmallSat Europe! In May, SpaceX officially announced the retirement of its rideshare program for small payload in 2029. That decision could leave a major gap in the small satellite launch market and creates a real opportunity for the first generation of European micro-launchers to step in. That’s exactly why I’m interested in the conversations happening this week at SmallSat Europe. For the next 3 days, I’ll be in Amsterdam discussing the future of European launch capabilities and how Alpha Impulsion will answer the needs of propulsion systems for launchers and satellites. If you’re around, feel free to reach out, whether you want to talk propulsion, launch markets, or simply catch up over a coffee.

🏆 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 Alpha Impulsion 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 DTA Distretto Tecnologico Aerospaziale scarl 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, while also receiving the highest number of votes for innovation! As part of the prize, we’ve been awarded a day of testing at DTA Distretto Tecnologico Aerospaziale scarl's facilities. It’s a strong recognition from a major Italian space player, and an exciting opportunity that will support the next steps in the development of our technology. It was a great opportunity to present our vision for the future of European space propulsion alongside so many companies and experts from across the industry. A huge thank you to Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France (3AF), the jury, and everyone who supported and voted for us during the event. And of course, congratulations to the two winners of the SpaceFounders award : Arkadia Space and Alloy Additive. See you all at the SPACE PROPULSION CONFERENCE 2028! 👋 📸: Giorgio Saccoccia, Stefano Guagnano, Martin Gros & Vincenzo Mazzella

𝗔 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁 “𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳” Daniel Cantos Gálvez recalls. He joined Alpha Impulsion in 2024 as a propulsion engineer, and one year after the ignition of our autophage engine in Agen, some memories are still impossible to forget. "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵.” And our technical lead Alexandre D. certainly confirms that point of view: “𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴.” Testing rarely goes smoothly. Yet, it’s also what makes these campaigns so rewarding: after months of preparation, you finally see the hardware come to life. Overall, we learned two things during this campaign: the engine worked, and Agen’s sun is no joke.☀️

🚀 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗶 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 SPACE PROPULSION CONFERENCE 🇮🇹 📆 May 18th - 21st 📍 Startup zone The event brings together propulsion specialists, with experts from around the world sharing their advancements in the field. As such, Martin Gros 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: "𝘏𝘺𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯-𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺: 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯" On top of that, 𝘄𝗲’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟴 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲’𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟯:𝟱𝟬 𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬. The competition highlights solutions expected to shape space transportation over the next decade, and the final winner will be announced later that evening during the gala dinner. We hope to see you there! 👋

Single-stage-to-orbit rockets have long been considered impractical. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀… 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴? In the latest and final release of our white paper, we explain how an “infinite-stage-to-orbit" approach could fundamentally reshape European micro-launchers:   → Twice the payload for the same launcher size  → Up to 6 times lower launch cost → Significantly decreased environmental impact  → New in-space transportation architectures The future of launch systems is still being written. Curious to hear your perspective 💭

No, it’s not Alpha Impulsion’s cart for the next soapbox race in Toulouse.  𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗸𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲. We don’t usually highlight every delivery, but this one matters. The entire engine architecture is built around the motor. Its power supply is a “small”, yet critical part within a much larger system. 🔋 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆? Simply plugging the motor into the grid isn’t an option. It’s extremely power-hungry and requires nearly seven times the amperage a standard outlet can provide. On top of that, one key advantage of BATCONNECT’s solution is the wealth of data it delivers in real time, helping us better optimise the motor’s output. When developing new technology, it’s essential to collaborate with partners who combine both high performance and agile production. With facilities located just 15 minutes from ours, BATCONNECT ticks all the boxes! ✅ Cathy Rouan Jérémy Dulout

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆. Say hi to the latest three team members! 📸 From left to right:  Théo Filleul is our newest #propulsion engineer. Having already worked with the team, including contributing to last May’s hot fire test, he’s stepping in with valuable hands-on experience to help drive the development of our next autophage prototype. Simone Pisani steps in as our new #HR manager at a key moment. With plans to recruit seven additional team members by the end of the year across France and Italy. His experience, along with his fluency in both French and Italian will be a real asset as we scale. William Ligneau is also back as #communication manager. Supporting a wide range of company activities, he’ll help strengthen our visibility and further develop both external and internal communication for the current phase of growth. The newcomers’ welcome BBQ is planned for tonight! ☕🔥 

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 ✅ We may not be 𝗡𝗔𝗦𝗔, but we’ve definitely been over the moon lately! 🌕 UK Space Agency has officialy validated the preliminary design of Opal. A satellite thruster specificaly engineered to propel cargo from 𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗚𝗘𝗢, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻, using Meridian Space Command's economical transfer vehicle. This collaboration with both entities is an important milestone for us. It will allow for quicker iterations once ground testing is performed. Huge thank you to Sam Richards for the trust placed in our project, and to Emma Felber for her feedback and support throught this phase!

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁? White paper part 2/3 In the first publication of our series, “𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰-𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴” we explored the current landscape in which micro-launch operators evolve, and the key objectives they must pursue to maintain a competitive edge in the future. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵-𝘀𝗮𝘃𝘃𝘆 🔧 We break down why conventional propulsion systems hit a wall when scaled down to micro-launchers. At this scale, dry mass becomes the real bottleneck, not just the engine performance. If you're interested in where micro-launchers could go next, and how autophage propulsion could increase payload capacity by 29%, this is a worth read. Missed part 1 ? Take a look here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ete4AeKw