SpaceX's Starlink sats fly on argon Hall thrusters with 2.4x thrust
XFreeze · x · 2026-10-14
Starlink satellites use argon Hall-effect thrusters to raise orbits, dodge debris, station-keep, and deorbit themselves. SpaceX switched from krypton to argon on V2 Mini: 170 mN of thrust, 2.4x the first-gen system with 1.5x specific impulse, making Starlink the first spacecraft system to fly argon propulsion. Falcon 9 delivers them; the tiny electric engines keep thousands of satellites in place.
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