Magdrive

Magdrive Ltd is a British space propulsion company headquartered at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire (Unit 4, Bep0 Building, Thomson Avenue, OX11 0GD). It develops electric plasma thrusters that use solid metal propellant and onboard energy storage to generate high-energy plasma, aiming to combine the high specific impulse associated with ion thrusters with substantially higher thrust at low mass and volume. The company markets a product family of three systems: Rogue, described as ready to launch with 100 W maximum charge power, 10 mN maximum thrust and 3 kNs total impulse; Warlock, listed on the website as launching 2027 with 150 W maximum charge power, 30 mN maximum thrust and 50 kNs total impulse (a separate website figure cites 50 mN maximum thrust for Warlock); and Paladin, listed as launching 2028 with 1 N+ maximum thrust.

Magdrive positions its systems for sustained rendezvous and proximity operations for satellite servicing and in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM); "stochastic movement" to make defence satellites harder to track; and constellation management, including high-cadence collision avoidance manoeuvres in congested low Earth orbit and end-of-life de-orbiting. Per SpaceNews, the Rogue is designed to fit in a 2U CubeSat form factor with thruster head, propellant tanks and power system integrated, so it can be deployed in arrays (2x2, 3x3, 4x4), and is offered for satellites of 10-400 kg. Wikipedia cites a Rogue dry mass of approximately 2.5 kg. The company also operates a "DEEP Lab" referenced on its site and has explored a Plasma thruster based Automated Deorbiting-Block (PAD-B) concept with the University of Southampton, in which roughly 1 kg nano-spacecraft carried by a mothership would attach to debris and de-orbit it.

Sources differ on founding date: internal records and one directory list 2020, while Harwell Campus, SpaceNews and Wikipedia state the company was founded in 2019 by CEO Mark Stokes, a mechanical and deep learning engineer, and CTO Dr Thomas Clayson, a plasma physicist and pulsed-power electronics engineer, who met at Imperial College London.

Founding story

Magdrive was founded by Mark Stokes and Dr Thomas Clayson, who met at Imperial College London, where Clayson earned a PhD in plasma physics. According to SpaceNews, the pair bonded over the idea of taking the lessons of pulsed power and scaling them down for satellite propulsion systems. Harwell Campus, SpaceNews and Wikipedia date the founding to 2019 in Oxfordshire, England, while other directory listings give 2020. Stokes is a mechanical and deep learning engineer with experience prototyping robotics and aerospace systems; Clayson is a plasma physicist and pulsed power electronics engineer. The company was associated with Entrepreneur First, which is listed both as an investor and as having Magdrive in its portfolio.

Business model

Magdrive designs and manufactures propulsion hardware sold to satellite and spacecraft operators. Following the 2025 seed round the company stated it was transitioning from an R&D outfit to a commercially focused R&D and manufacturing operation, building a UK manufacturing facility and beginning to manufacture sales units after the June 2025 flight demonstration. Its development has been part-funded by government grants from the UK Government, UK Space Agency and European Space Agency.

Sale of propulsion units (Rogue, and planned Warlock and Paladin systems) to satellite and spacecraft operators, supplemented historically by government grant and public funding.

Traction

First in-orbit experiment with EnduroSat launched on Falcon 9 Transporter-6 in 2023; first full-scale in-orbit test of the Rogue thruster (two thrusters) launched June 2025 with D-Orbit on the ION Satellite Carrier via Falcon 9 Transporter-14. Total funding of approximately $22.5 million including public funding as of early 2025, comprising a $2M pre-seed (2020), a $10.5M seed (February 2025) and more than $10M of government funding. The website lists Rogue as ready to launch, Warlock as launching 2027 and Paladin as launching 2028.

Latest developments

In February 2025 Magdrive closed a $10.5 million seed round led by Redalpine with participation from Founders Fund, Balerion Space Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Outsized Ventures, 7percent Ventures and Entrepreneur First, and announced a UK manufacturing facility plus a Los Angeles subsidiary. The Rogue thruster flew in June 2025 with D-Orbit on the "Going Rogue" mission. Magdrive and Perpetual Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding to develop nuclear-plasma hybrid propulsion systems combining Magdrive's plasma engines with radioisotope power units. Company website timelines list Warlock launching in 2027 and Paladin in 2028, later than the 2026 Warlock flight target Stokes gave to SpaceNews in early 2025.