York Space Systems has released information about its propulsion supplier for the first time, who Orbion turned out to be, specializing in propulsion systems for small satellites. The company Orbion delivered 33 electric propulsion units for the US military satellite group York. These units are Orbion's Hall effect-based Aurora electric propulsion systems for small satellites.
York has several contracts to build spacecraft for the Space Development Agency (SDA) US Space Force, which deploys a Distributed Space Architecture for combat operations (Pwsa) – a network of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit for data transport, tracking and anti-missile defense. Orbion did not specify the final customer of the satellites, but York's publicly disclosed production activities are mostly related to SDA contracts, therefore probably, that these thrusters are intended specifically for SDA missions. Orbion noted, that thrusters from previous batches are already working on York satellites in orbit.
Hall effect motors are a class of electric traction, small satellites, to raise the orbit after launch, maintaining a position, avoiding collisions and controlled deorbiting at the end of the mission. Although electric propulsion has become the standard for many small satellites, the supply chain lags behind demand. Production capacity remains limited, making drivers a constant bottleneck for companies, which deploy groups on a large scale.
Orbion co-founder and CEO Brad King said, that delivery 33 of the York engines was completed in November 2025 year. The company is gradually ramping up production in response to growing orders from both the government and the government, and from commercial clients. The Orbion plant currently produces approx 150 power units per year, and by next year plans to increase this indicator by approx 50%. Orbion's current order book is almost evenly split between government and commercial customers, and close 30% commercial business is accounted for by international buyers.
Source: https://spacenews.com