Spain
ienai SPACE is a Madrid-based startup founded in 2019, specializing in electric propulsion systems for nano-satellites. The company's mission is to address the lack of on-board propulsion in CubeSats, offering highly efficient and customized ionic-liquid electric propulsion systems. By leveraging its proprietary software for mission analysis and optimization of low-thrust trajectories, ienai SPACE aims to support control activities during the mission, enabling nano-satellites to reach further and operate for extended durations.
With an impressive pre-seed round investment of $400.00K from Inveready in April 2021, ienai SPACE has demonstrated investor confidence in its innovative approach. The company's versatile propulsion system, ATHENA, is designed to be highly scalable in specific impulse and thrust, based on a novel iteration of electrospray thrusters with theoretical efficiencies that set it apart in the low power range. This technology's reduced form factor enables less onboard propellant, making it an attractive solution for nano-satellites operating within constrained volumes.
As the space sector embraces the CubeSat standard, paving the way for novel functionalities from high-speed communication networks to earth observation, ienai SPACE is strategically positioned to meet the escalating demand for in-space mobility solutions. With the ambitious projection of 11,000 new satellites set to be launched over the next decade, 90% of which are nano-satellites, the company is poised to play a pivotal role in revolutionizing and democratizing access to space.
