Space Plasmatics

Space Plasmatics is an Israeli electric plasma propulsion company developing miniaturized thrusters for CubeSats, nanosatellites, and debris removal vehicles, emerging from Israel's strong plasma physics and aerospace engineering research community.

The company's product family spans two key technology platforms: the nanoVAT (nano Vacuum Arc Thruster), a finger-sized cathodic arc thruster that operates by eroding a solid metal cathode (typically titanium) through vacuum arc discharge to produce a plasma jet — requiring no propellant tank and offering extreme miniaturization for attitude control on 1U-3U CubeSats; and the microHET (micro Hall-Effect Thruster), a tennis-ball-sized Hall thruster for higher delta-V primary propulsion on 6U-12U nanosatellites.

The nanoVAT's propellant-free operation (consuming only the cathode material itself) is a significant advantage for nanosatellites where volume and mass allocation for propellant tanks is severely constrained, enabling attitude control capability in satellites that could not otherwise carry an active propulsion system. The microHET scales Hall thruster technology down to the power levels (10-50W) available on small satellites while maintaining the high specific impulse (Isp ~1,000s) advantages of Hall propulsion over cold gas or chemical thrusters.

Space Plasmatics operates within Israel's thriving deep-tech ecosystem, drawing on research from Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) plasma physics and from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems' aerospace heritage. Israel's defense space experience — Ofek reconnaissance satellites, Arrow missile defense — provides a talent pipeline and potential government customer base for Space Plasmatics' propulsion products.