A Natick company is propelling the next generation of spacecrafts into orbit. Busek Co. Inc. makes in-space propulsion thrusters, and its thrusters were installed on Airbus OneWeb Satellites now orbiting the Earth.
Busek’s thrusters were sent into space on OneWeb’s 15th and 16th missions, which sent 80 spacecraft into low Earth orbit on Dec. 9 and Jan. 10. The Natick company’s thrusters are used for orbit-raising, station-keeping, collision avoidance, and the eventual move out of orbit.
OneWeb’s satellites are being launched into space to provide broadband satellite Internet services.
Busek was founded in 1985 by Vlad Hruby. It has worked with NASA and the U.S. Air Force. Its propulsion systems have been used by NASA for its deep space program Artemis and helped with the Lunar IceCube, which is looking for frozen water on the Moon.
