Agile Space Industries

Agile Space Industries develops in-space chemical propulsion systems, including thrusters and rocket engines that operate on hydrazine and hydrazine-based propellants. The company positions itself as a full-service propulsion provider, carrying products from design through additive manufacturing and hotfire qualification testing within its own facilities. Alongside engines, its product line includes propulsion systems marketed under the names Moab, Yosemite and Ticonderoga, the M4 thruster, the LE1 engine, and zero-slosh piston tanks for storable propellants. The company has also described work on chemical-electric dual-mode propulsion systems.

Operations combine in-house additive and subtractive manufacturing with test infrastructure built around a high-fidelity data collection and close-coupled analysis system that the company describes as the foundation of its engine design process. Agile states it has performed more than 8,000 hotfire tests and draws on more than ten years of hotfire testing and system design and development experience across commercial, civil and defense programs. Its Animas test facility, commissioned with a first hot fire, is described by the company as the only known commercial facility able to test engines heavier than 300 pounds in a vacuum environment simulating space. A further Space Test Center is under construction in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Customer engagements span commercial, civil and defense space. Agile was contracted by The Exploration Company to supply flight thrusters for the Nyx modular European capsule targeting an ISS docking in 2028, is providing propulsion to True Anomaly for the U.S. Space Systems Command VICTUS HAZE tactically responsive space mission, has supplied test stands supporting Firefly's lunar program, and has supported NASA's Europa Clipper mission. It also holds a SpaceWERX SBIR Phase II contract for a Mobile Payload Processing Center.

Business model

Agile sells propulsion hardware and systems - thrusters, rocket engines, propellant tanks and integrated propulsion systems - to spacecraft and satellite operators and prime contractors, and additionally offers propulsion test services through its commercial hotfire and vacuum test facilities. Government research and development contracts, such as SBIR awards, form a further revenue channel.

Traction

The company reports over 8,000 cumulative hotfire tests and more than a decade of testing and development experience. In its 2023 year in review, Agile reported revenue almost 50% higher than 2022, a 75% increase in orders, and 22 contracts signed covering tank and propulsion system sales including the newly developed Ticonderoga system. It has announced its first commercial sale of the LE1 engine and contracts with The Exploration Company, True Anomaly, Firefly test stand support, and NASA's Europa Clipper mission.

Latest developments

Recent announcements include an oversubscribed $17M Series A, a further investment round led by Lockheed Martin Ventures, groundbreaking on the Tulsa Space Test Center, selection by The Exploration Company to supply flight thrusters for the Nyx ISS mission targeting 2028, a propulsion award from True Anomaly for the VICTUS HAZE mission, a SpaceWERX SBIR Phase II contract for a Mobile Payload Processing Center, commissioning of the Animas test facility, and appointments of a new CTO and board member and a new Director of Engineering and Project Management.