The UK Space Agency has launched a £150,000 project with French startup Alpha Impulsion and British firm Meridian Space Command to refine a spacecraft that burns its own structure as fuel. Announced on Sepetember 30th, the six-month design review will focus on the Economical Transfer Vehicle (ETV), a 250-kilogram orbital tug that uses autophage propulsion.
The aim is to reduce the cost of moving satellites between orbits and enable affordable missions beyond Earth.
Autophage propulsion is what sets the ETV apart. Instead of carrying bulky tanks, the spacecraft uses a solid fuel tube that doubles as part of its structure. The tube, combined with a liquid oxidizer, is fed into the combustion chamber in small amounts by pistons.
As the fuel is consumed, the spacecraft sheds mass, making the system more efficient. Alpha Impulsion demonstrated this in a six-day ground test earlier this year, showing stable and reliable burns.
At launch, the ETV weighs about 250 kilograms and can carry payloads of up to 50 kilograms. With a delta-v capacity of 4.5 kilometers per second, it can perform major orbital changes. That includes shifting satellites by 30 degrees in low Earth orbit or climbing to medium and geostationary orbits. It also opens the door to lunar trajectories, a capability usually restricted to larger and far more expensive spacecraft.
The plan is to use rideshare launches such as SpaceX’s Transporter missions. After deployment into low Earth orbit or sun-synchronous orbit, the ETV would fire up its engine, consuming its own structure as it moves to its target.
By removing the weight of empty tanks, the spacecraft can carry more useful payload while keeping costs down. Alpha Impulsion’s CEO, Marius Celette, said rising demand for lunar missions and satellite servicing is driving interest in the technology.
Early projects are already lined up. India’s Space Kidz group plans to send ShakthiSAT, a student-built satellite and lander designed with input from 10,800 students across 108 countries, on a path to lunar orbit.
The UK’s Leicester University is preparing Elfen, a CubeSat that will measure heavy ions in the solar wind from twice the distance of geostationary orbit. The data will help scientists study how particles in space generate X-ray emissions in Earth’s magnetosphere, supporting international research programs like China’s SMILE mission.
Industry partners say the timing is right. Rideshare launches have created an affordable way to reach low Earth orbit, but moving beyond that is still costly. Meridian’s Sam Richards said the ETV could reduce the cost of delivering satellites to lunar orbit by an order of magnitude. This aligns with broader goals from NASA’s Artemis program and European space plans, which aim to make cislunar operations routine.
The ETV builds on decades of hybrid rocket development, including early work applied to projects like SpaceShipOne. But its design is tailored for efficiency in space, where every kilogram matters. If the design review succeeds, Alpha Impulsion and Meridian hope to move quickly toward flight tests.
For the UK Space Agency, it is an investment in technology that could reshape how satellites and science missions move around the solar system.