FOI is participating in an EU project aiming to develop safer and greener propellants for spacecraft. The project is called GRASP, short for Green Advanced Space Propulsion. GRASP aims to sift out the best candidates to replace the toxic propellant hydrazine.

Many satellites and spacecraft currently use the liquid propellant hydrazine. Hydrazine, which is extremely toxic and therefore expensive to handle, entails enormous health risks. That is why FOI have joined the European syndicate responsible for GRASP - a three-year research project. The project aims to reduce health risks by finding a replacement for hydrazine.

'The purpose of GRASP is to make an inventory of the alternatives to hydrazine,' explains Niklas Wingborg, a researcher at the Department of Energetic Materials at FOI by Grindsjön, just outside Stockholm. 

ESA (The European Space Agency) has participated in the evaluation of the EU project proposals, and an expert from the ESA will be monitoring and reviewing the project as it progresses.

'FOI have been working on finding a more environmentally friendly alternative to hydrazine since 1997. The ESA advised us that a syndicate was forming and recommended that we join,' says Niklas Wingborg.

Read more about GRASP