CU Aerospace DUPLEX Satellite headed to the ISS on SpaceX NG-23 Mission
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - illiNews -- CU Aerospace, LLC, a leading aerospace engineering company for small satellite propulsion, is proud to announce the successful launch of their Dual Propulsion Experiment, better known as DUPLEX. The CubeSat is now successfully in orbit on Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL spacecraft for the Commercial Resupply Services 23 (CRS-23/NG-23) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. It was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 on Sunday, September 14th, 2025, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Cygnus XL is carrying more than 11,000 pounds of supplies and scientific experiments, including CU Aerospace's DUPLEX satellite. DUPLEX is a 6U CubeSat that will demonstrate two of CUA's micropropulsion technologies in space, providing flight heritage for their innovative new Fiber-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster (FPPT) and Monofilament Vaporization Propulsion Thruster (MVP) systems. Cygnus will be captured by the ISS crew in the early morning of September 17th and the DUPLEX satellite will be later deployed from ISS around November 1st, with operations to follow hours after deployment.

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The DUPLEX mission is funded by NASA STMD as part of their 2019 Tipping Point opportunity to promote the development of efficient and affordable space propulsion systems for CubeSats. This project will allow CU Aerospace to demonstrate the flight-worthiness of its thrusters and to gain distinction as a provider of less costly and safer alternatives to the propulsion systems currently on the market. The two thrusters utilize spooled PTPE and Delrin fiber as innovative and less costly propellants, leveraging the added safety benefits of being non-corrosive, non-toxic, non-pressurized, and easy to handle. FPPT and MVP are just two of the five innovative propulsion technologies developed by CUA. Efforts to secure opportunities to demonstrate CUA's cold gas, monopropellant, and flow controller systems are ongoing.

For any inquiries regarding these innovative technologies, go to CUA's website at cuaersopace.com or contact info@cuaerospace.com.

Below is the link to the NASA announcement:

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/09...