Beau Jarvis - Phase Four; RF thrusters

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Beau Jarvis, CEO of Phase Four, the developer of the Maxwell line of RF Thrusters.

It seems like there are satellites being launched weekly, from large communications satellites to clusters of smaller spacecraft like Starlink and OneWeb, CubeSats and even micro-satellites. One of the things that nearly all of these and other spacecraft have in common is a need for propulsion stabilization and station-keeping once they are in orbit. And that means thrusters.

Phase Four is developing a new paradigm of in-space propulsion for the rapidly expanding space economy. From large constellations in LEO to new missions and cutting-edge capabilities, the Phase Four team is the key to mission success. They are focused, innovative and passionate about space.

Phase Four’s Maxwell RF thrusters do not implement cathodes anywhere in the system. This eliminates the choke point slowing down manufacturing of traditional plasma propulsion systems.

Phase Four builds its RF Thrusters in runs on a planned production schedule. This allows customers to sign up for units as long as the production run has not commenced, reducing lead times to as short as 3-4 months. The company aims for 3-4 production runs per year and each run is comprised of assembly, checkout, and acceptance testing.

Beau Jarvis has extensive commercial experience in Japan, SE Asia, Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Africa. Building Phase Four’s global business and enabling customers to operate spacecraft more efficiently and in new orbits. He has held leadership roles at Hawkeye 360, Planet, and Trimble navigation.

How does what happen in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public.

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00:00 - Start
00:52 - What does Phase Four do?
01:26 - Benefits of the RF Thruster
04:07 - RF
05:59 - RF frequencies used
06:38 - Advantages of RF thrusters
08:24 - Beau's background
12:32 - What missions are currently flying with Phase Four thrusters?
12:59 - ARFL Green fuel
16:19 - Why Iodine?
20:20 - Innovations in the Maxwell line of thruster
22:00 - On orbit servicing
23:47 - Phase Four team
27:32 - What do you see in Space Commerce over the next 5-10 years?