An invention that holds water

• The quest for sustainable alternative fuels for engines has been a long one, but today, we are one step closer. 500-backed Singapore spacetech company Aliena teamed up with URA Thrusters and researchers from Imperial College London to successfully build a satellite engine that runs on – guess what – water!
• Aliena’s device, the hollow cathode, turns oxygen atoms into ions. These ions shoot out of the engine to propel the satellite. 
• “The force of the engine’s thrust is akin to the weight of two 10-cent coins in your palm – very little force. But in space, there is no air and therefore no friction, so the slightest and continual force from the thruster is enough to push the satellite to high accelerations,” explained CTO George-Cristian Potrivitu.
• This remarkable milestone is also a cheaper option compared to expensive rare gases such as xenon, which makes up just 0.0000087% of Earth’s atmosphere. CEO Mark Lim shared that it is also energy-intensive to extract it from air.
• “A lot of energy and resources are needed to distill and purify the gas. Since xenon is so rare in the atmosphere, even more amounts of air need to be processed for just a small quantity of xenon,” he said.
• Imagine this: with water now available as a source of fuel, satellites or even spacecraft in future deep space missions could potentially refuel at celestial bodies with signs of water.
• Read the full story on The Straits Times.