Safran Spacecraft Propulsion

Safran Spacecraft Propulsion (formerly Snecma and Safran Aircraft Engines' spacecraft division, operating within the Safran group) is Europe's leading manufacturer of plasma electric propulsion systems for spacecraft, with the Plasma Propulsion System (PPS) Hall-effect thruster family at the core of its space product line. The PPS thrusters use an axially injected noble gas (xenon or krypton) that is ionized in a cylindrical discharge chamber and accelerated by crossed electric and magnetic fields — achieving specific impulse of 1,500-3,000 seconds, approximately four to ten times the efficiency of chemical propulsion.

This efficiency advantage is critical for large GEO telecommunications satellites, where electric propulsion for orbit raising and station-keeping can reduce propellant mass by 60-70%, enabling satellite manufacturers to launch significantly larger payloads on a given rocket. The PPS1350 thruster powered ESA's Smart-1 spacecraft on its pioneering all-electric spiral transfer to the Moon (2003-2006), the first ESA mission to demonstrate electric orbit raising for a lunar mission.

The PPS5000 — delivering 5 kW thrust at Isp 2,800s — has been qualified for 20,000 operational hours, sufficient for the entire 15-year commercial GEO satellite lifetime, and is baselined on Boeing 702SP and Airbus OneWeb satellite platforms. Safran's XPS (xenon propulsion system) integration expertise extends from thruster through propellant management assembly (PMA), xenon storage tanks, and power processing units (PPU). The company competes with Aerojet Rocketdyne's XR-5, German Aerospace Center (DLR) heritage at ArianeGroup's satellite division, and U.S. manufacturer Busek Company in the high-power Hall thruster segment.