Kreios Space is a Spanish deep-tech startup, founded in 2021 and headquartered in Vigo, Spain. The company's core mission is to unlock the potential of Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) for commercial and governmental satellites. It is focused on solving the single biggest challenge of operating in this region: atmospheric drag.
VLEO, the region of space at altitudes between 150 km and 400 km, offers enormous advantages over traditional orbits. However, the residual atmospheric particles at this altitude create significant drag, causing satellites to rapidly lose altitude and de-orbit, often within days. This makes long-duration missions impossible with conventional propulsion systems, which would need to carry an unsustainable amount of propellant to constantly counteract the drag.
Kreios Space's entire business is built on providing the breakthrough technology that makes these long-duration missions not just possible, but sustainable and commercially viable.
What Kreios Space Actually Does
Kreios Space designs, develops, and builds a revolutionary type of electric propulsion system that effectively "breathes" the atmosphere. This allows a satellite to operate indefinitely in VLEO without carrying any onboard propellant.
The company's primary function is developing and manufacturing its proprietary Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) system. This system is the key enabler, turning the problem (atmospheric drag) into the solution (propellant).
The ABEP system works in two main stages:
Air-Intake System: A specially designed intake captures the extremely thin, rarefied atmospheric particles (such as molecular oxygen and nitrogen) present in VLEO. This system is designed to efficiently collect and compress these particles.
Plasma Thruster: The collected air is then funneled into a Helicon Plasma Thruster. Inside the thruster, the air is used as the propellant. It is ionized (turned into a plasma) using electricity generated by the satellite's solar panels. This plasma is then accelerated and expelled at high velocity, generating a continuous, low-level thrust.
This constant, efficient thrust perfectly counteracts the atmospheric drag, allowing the satellite to maintain its orbit for years (Kreios targets a lifetime of over 10 years) using only solar power and the air around it.
Products and Offerings
Kreios Space's business is centered on providing this core technology as a product for satellite manufacturers and operators who want to build VLEO constellations.
Core Product: Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) System
This is the company's flagship product. It is a complete, integrated propulsion system comprised of:
The Atmospheric Intake: The physical "scoop" that collects the atmospheric propellant.
The Helicon Plasma Thruster: The engine that ionizes and accelerates the captured air to produce thrust. Their current models (such as the K-3 thruster) are designed for high efficiency and reliability in the VLEO environment.
Power Processing Unit (PPU): The electronic system that manages and conditions the power from the satellite's solar arrays to run the thruster.
VLEO Satellite Platforms
While Kreios Space's core is the propulsion system, it also partners with other aerospace companies to integrate this technology. They have a key partnership with Elecnor Deimos to design and build the world's first commercial satellite platform (the satellite "bus" or body) specifically created to integrate the ABEP system. This offering provides customers with a complete, flight-ready satellite solution designed for VLEO.
Why VLEO Matters: The Applications Kreios Unlocks
By enabling sustained flight in VLEO, Kreios Space's technology unlocks a new frontier for space applications. The primary benefits of operating so close to Earth include:
1. Ultra-High-Resolution Earth Observation: * Satellites in VLEO can capture images of the Earth's surface with significantly higher clarity (up to 3x higher resolution, with potential for sub-10cm optical resolution).
Applications: This is critical for defense and intelligence, infrastructure monitoring, precision agriculture, and rapid disaster response.`
2. Next-Generation Telecommunications: * The short distance to Earth dramatically improves the "link budget," reducing latency and increasing data speeds. This enables direct-to-device (D2D) broadband connectivity (e.g., 5G) directly to standard smartphones, without requiring large, specialized ground antennas.
Applications: Truly global, high-speed internet access, especially for remote and maritime regions.`
3. Inherent Sustainability (Debris-Free): * A major benefit of VLEO is that any satellite at this altitude, upon its end-of-life, will naturally de-orbit and burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere due to the same drag it was fighting.
Applications: This avoids the creation of more long-lived space debris, a critical problem in higher orbits.`
4. Reduced Costs: * A VLEO satellite can achieve the same performance as a much larger, more expensive satellite in a higher orbit, leading to lower manufacturing and launch costs.
In summary, Kreios Space is a highly specialized engineering company that is not just building a new type of engine; it is building the key to open an entirely new and valuable orbital region that was previously inaccessible.
