RESILIENCE: The crucial factor in maintaining Europe's dominance in the field of space technology
-- IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE --
Munich 13th February 2025
Dear Readers,
The past twelve months have been a pivotal and challenging time for Neutron Star Systems, DE GmbH. Since our last newsletter in March 2024, NSS has navigated a pivotal period marked by financial adversity and organizational challenges. Through determination and key support from the European Innovation Council, we have overcome obstacles, achieved critical milestones and advance our pioneering work in superconductor-based propulsion systems for space and defense technologies.
Rendering SUPREME Thruster. (Credits: Neutron Star Systems DE GmbH)
This effort has led to an important milestone: the completion of the internal critical design review phase for the EU SUPREME Project on 30th and 31st January 2025, culminating the design phase for a revolutionary five-kilowatt thruster prototype. This breakthrough marks a significant advancement in electric propulsion, offering the potential to revolutionize space mobility through unparalleled manoeuvrability and scalable performance across a wide range of mission scenarios. SUPREME is the first step towards the development of a plug-and-play, modular architecture that supports power ranges from 5 to 100 kW or satellite payloads of 500 to 10,000 kg, making it ideal for multimode, multi-orbit and multi domain operations. With its flexible propellant compatibility e.g. using Argon as propellant instead of expensive Xenon or Ammonia for multimode manoeuvres, SUPREME technology provides adaptable solutions for both commercial and defence capabilities, enabling high-performance propulsion tailored to diverse mission needs.
However, this achievement is occurring amid a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape. While Neutron Star Systems has positioned Europe as a leader in superconductor-based technologies, global competition is heating up. China, Russia, New Zealand , Japan and the United States are aggressively investing in disruptive space technologies, fueled by both government initiatives and high-profile private actors. Europe’s ability to maintain technological sovereignty and avoid dependency on foreign systems is critical for securing leadership in strategic sectors.
Project Summary: SUPREME and Sustained Innovation Through Adversity
Despite the ongoing liquidation of Neutron Star Systems, our exceptional team of partners—including the University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Space Systems, the University of Twente, Airbus CRISA, and PEAK Technologies—has remained steadfast. This dedicated consortium has successfully advanced our project, achieving a pivotal milestone: the internal critical design review (internal-CDR). This accomplishment marks the finalization of the designs for the minimum viable product, a superconductor-based applied field magnetoplasmadynamic (AF-MPD) electric propulsion five-kilowatt thruster, capable of transforming spacecraft maneuverability and mobility for commercial and defense capabilities.
In parallel, we have remained strategically engaged in multiple activities to support the long-term success of our technology. During this period, we submitted a proposal for sustained maneuvering and dynamic operations to the United States Space Force, collaborating with the Georgia Institute of Technology and a leading U.S.-based company specializing in cathode development technology. We also pursued two key grant applications, including a follow-up transition project related to re-entry Magnetohydrodynamic Enhanced Entry System for Space Transportation (MEESST) and a pathfinder project proposal for solar storm forecasting (STORM) submitted in October 2024.
Additionally, we kept engaged with the European Innovation Council through events like the EIC Space Portfolio Meeting in October 2024, The Space Investors Night organized by the EIC during the Space Tech Expo in Bremen while promoting SUPREME to investors and stakeholders in Norway, which fostered meaningful relationships and avenues for future collaboration. Together, these activities demonstrate our resilience, adaptability, and continued commitment to maintaining European technological leadership.
Key Results and Breakthroughs
The SUPREME project has reached significant technical milestones over the past year, reflecting steady progress in the development of its key subsystems:
· High Temperature Superconducting Coil: Finalized coil geometries and main operations requirements including cryogenic systems design, cooling lines, insulation systems and power DC bars for feeding the coil.
· Breadboard Power Processing Unit (PPU): Finalized designs for the breadboard PPU aimed to power the discharge unit of the thruster. A TRL 5 for the PPU will be achieved at the end of the project.
· Discharge Unit: the designs for the cathode and anode were completed, ensuring optimised downscaling from the existing SX3 prototype developed at the University Stuttgart (Institute of Space Systems). The SX3 prototype has demonstrated thrust efficiencies of up 63%.
· Vacuum Chamber Readiness: The ground infrastructure for testing is prepared, with the vacuum chamber fully equipped to generate conditions for near-space testing.
These milestones pave the way for the procurement and manufacturing of the demonstrators and the following extended experimental phase, set to begin in Q1 2026, followed by testing and validation in relevant environments to demonstrate the thruster’s functionality and performance.
Exploitation Activities: Driving Innovation Through Collaboration
Despite the ongoing liquidation of Neutron Star Systems, we have maintained strong connections with key players in the European and U.S. space industries, ensuring that the innovations achieved under the SUPREME project remain positioned for future exploitation. One major step forward was the submission of a D2P2 proposal through our sister company in the United States for a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program with the U.S. Space Force.
In Europe, we submitted the STORM proposal under the Pathfinder call on October 2024. This proposal focuses on a conceptual feasibility study (TRL 1-3) for a future mission involving a 20-kilowatt version of the SUPREME thruster. The mission would integrate the high-power thruster into an orbit transfer vehicle designed to transport nano-sensing satellites from geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) to Lagrange Point L1. Once deployed, these satellites would use solar sails for station-keeping to monitor solar activity in a region extending 7.5 million kilometers beyond L1.
Artistic Rendering of the Solar Weather Forecasting Mission Pathfinder Proposal. (Credits: Neutron Star Systems DE GmbH)
A new and promising avenue for exploitation involves the upcoming Category B call from the European Defence Agency (EDA) CapTech Space for multi-layer, multi-orbit spacecraft architectures. We plan to submit a proposal under this call, leveraging our superconductor-based propulsion technology as a key enabler for future European space infrastructure. As well as, pursuing the Cassini Business Acceleration Program 2025.
Dissemination Activities: Engaging Stakeholders and Expanding Visibility
We have actively shared the project’s progress and potential applications through key events and engagements:
· Space Investors Night (Bremen, Space Tech Expo): Engaging with investors to highlight SUPREME’s commercialization potential.
Ugo Celestino, Policy Officer for Space Research, Innovation and Start-ups at European Commission, Stela Tkatchova EIC Manager for Space Systems and Manuel La Rosa Betancourt Cofounder and CEO NSS.
· Munich New Space Summit 2024: Moderating a panel with space industry leaders from Rocket Factory Augsburg, HPS High Performance Space Structures Systems, GMV, DCubed Space, Thales Alenia Space Italy on strengthening leadership in the New Space Era. Panel: Charting Europe’s Path: Strengthening Leadership in the New Space Era at the Munich New Space Summit 2024.
· Tech Tour Bodø (Norway): Pitching SUPREME’s defense-related applications to key Nordic stakeholders, customers and investors.
TechTour Bodø, Norway 24th October 2025. “Innovating at the intersection of Superconductors, Space and Artificial Intelligence” by Manuel La Rosa Betancourt.
· Bimodal Ammonia Nuclear Thermal and Electric Rocket (BANTER) Project: An EIC pathfinder project with a total funding of three million EUR led by the University of Pisa and including European actors from Czechia, Germany and France.
Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Rocket. Photo Credits: NASA.
· International Electric Propulsion Conference (IEPC) 2024 in Toulouse, Neutron Star Systems and the University of Stuttgart (Institute of Space Systems) have made significant contributions. Dr. Michael Winter, our Chief Technology Officer, presented research on downscaling of AF-MPD thrusters from 100 kW SX3 prototype to the 5-kilowatt SUPREME thruster. Additionally, two other papers, authored by Alessa Sperber and David Wanke from University Stuttgart, on thrust balance design and facility improvements, both presentations were recognised as best papers in their respective sessions. All three papers have been invited for submission to Journal of Electric Propulsion. These accomplishments highlight the project's impactful research and innovation.
Dr. Michael Winter Chief Technology Officer Neutron Star Systems DE GmbH.
Prof. Dr. Georg Herdrich, Head of Plasma Wind Tunnels and Electric Propulsion at the University of Stuttgart (Institute of Space Systems) and his team of engineers and PhD candidates at the IEPC 2024.
Partner and Stakeholder Contributions: The Collective Force Behind SUPREME
· Neutron Star Systems, DE GmbH (Germany) – Leading technology roadmap, dissemination and exploitation activities.
· University of Stuttgart (Germany) – Playing a pivotal role in project coordination and key technological advancements.
· Airbus CRISA (Spain) – Leading the development of the Breadboard Power Processing Unit (PPU) for the discharge unit.
· University of Twente (Netherlands) – Designing and integrating the cryogenic systems and auxiliaries needed to ensure operation of the HTS electromagnet.
· PEAK Technologies (Austria) – Developing propellant tank solutions for the SUPREME thruster.
The project’s success is driven by the collaborative efforts of key partners:
SUPREME's multidisciplinary team during the conduction of the internal CDR. EIC fund Project N° 101113107.
CALL TO ACTION: To strengthen European Leadership in Space Mobility and Enabling Technologies
As we complete the internal Critical Design Review, the project is moving into an important phase: procuring key components and subsystems, building the thruster system, and conducting an extended testing campaign in a vacuum facility to characterize and validate its performance. In this phase we look forward to connecting with commercial partners, space agencies and defense organizations to inform and disseminate the results of the project and engage in new collaborative efforts that lead to technology advancement and commercialization.
We invite you to stay connected and follow our progress through our LinkedIn Channel , which will serve as the main hub for updates and dissemination of key results.
We also call on European decision-makers to support emerging space technologies and set the foundation for creating a sustainable market for high-power electric propulsion systems. While global competitors like the United States and China are accelerating their investments in this field, Europe must act decisively to remain competitive and foster long-term strategic autonomy.
Thank you for being part of this journey, and we look forward to sharing our next achievements with you.
#EUdefence #EUeic #startup #resilience #entrepreneurship #iris2
Acknowledgments
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement SUPREME No. 101113107. We extend our gratitude to the European Innovation Council (EIC) for their support.
YouTube Link: A Vision for A Superconducting Future (Courtesy AHA Media Agency)
YouTube Link: Introduction Neutron Star Systems - Mission K Germany (Courtesy of MVP Factory GmbH and Schrittweiter GmbH)
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