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TALOS® (Thruster for the Advancement of Low-temperature Operation in Space)

The first flight-proven cold propellant engine to use MON-25.  

Fueled by MON-25, TALOS engines have high performance and can operate at a wide temperature range, between -40-and 80-degrees Fahrenheit.

TALOS engines pulse roughly three times faster than thrusters of similar size, providing greater control over the spacecraft’s movement.

Specifically optimized for use with MON-25 and designed to help reduce the cost of NASA and commercial spacecraft destined for the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

10-lbf

• Used to alter a spacecraft’s flight path or altitude.

• The first cold propellant thruster ever delivered and used in an exploration mission.

• The lightest weight at less than 0.34 kg, and the fastest response at under 10 milliseconds.

150-lbf

• Used for orbit insertion/lunar descent and proximity operations. They can also serve as main propulsion thrusters.

• Weighing in at only 2.7 lbm, the TALOS-150 engine advances the state of the art in thrust to weight for a bipropellant engine. 

• Demonstrated stable operation from 80°F to -22°F, with repeatable performance down to 12-millisecond pulses.  

TALOS thrusters burn mixed oxides of nitrogen and monomethyl hydrazine propellants (MON-25/MMH)

MON-25 fuel can operate at low temperatures for an extended period without freezing.

Benefits of MON-25 fueled TALOS engines:

• MON-25 does not need to be conditioned at extreme temperatures like other mixed oxides of nitrogen propellants.

• Reduced power requirements for spacecraft operating in low temperatures.

• Reduced number of batteries and size of solar panels.

• This results in smaller, lighter, and less expensive systems.

The TALOS thruster design will pave the way for commercial companies to use similar thrusters for deep space missions since no MON-25/MMH thruster is capable of pulse-mode operation – the ability to fire the engine and maneuver the spacecraft in short bursts.