Panel in chamber unit in the Astra Spacecraft Engine. Photo: Astra

Airbus OneWeb Satellites [AOS], which manufactures satellites for the OneWeb constellation, signed a deal with Astra Space to integrate its engines into the Arrow small satellite portfolio. 

The Monday announcement was light on details, but said Astra will supply the Astra Spacecraft Engine for integration into the portfolio of Arrow commercial small satellites.” Details on delivery dates, quantity, or financial terms were not disclosed. 

AOS is a joint venture between Airbus and OneWeb and manufactures satellites for the OneWeb commercial constellation and Airbus customers at its facility in Merritt Island, Florida. Arrow is the company’s commoditized space vehicle, originated for the OneWeb commercial satellite constellation. 

The Arrow platform currently uses an electric propulsion module designed by Airbus. The company subcontracts the components in the propulsion module, and an in-house team handles all the mechanical and electrical testing and integration.

Airbus OneWeb Satellites is set to manufacture Arrow satellite platforms for Northrop Grumman’s contract for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer through a deal with Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, and for space as a service startup Loft Orbital through a deal with Airbus Defence and Space (ADS Europe).  

The Astra Spacecraft Engine was designed by Apollo Fusion, which Astra acquired last year. It is an electric Hall engine and has been used by York Space Systems, Spaceflight’s Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) Sherpa-LTE, and a U.S. Air Force intelligence satellite. Astra signed a deal earlier this year to supply the engines to LeoStella. 

Astra is a small satellite launcher in addition to propulsion system manufacturer, but the company recently announced a pause on launches. It is is ending use of its current rocket after two launch failures and moving to the next version of its launch system, and may not have the rocket in commercial service until after 2023. 

Correction: A prior version of this story misstated the primary contractor on the Northrop Grumman and Loft Orbital deals.