ISPTech will exhibit at the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2025) in Milan, 13–17 October 2025. The ISPTech stand will present the company's full propulsion portfolio across four product families — chemical thrusters, electric propulsion, cold gas RCS, and propellant management — alongside conference papers submitted to the propulsion system and technology symposium.
Why IAC
The International Astronautical Congress is the annual convergence point for the global space sector — programme managers, satellite OEM procurement teams, space agency representatives, and propulsion engineers all attend the same congress week. For a propulsion component supplier, the IAC floor provides concentrated access to the decision-makers who specify, approve, and procure propulsion subsystems for real programmes — not a generic trade show audience, but the actual procurement chain.
ISPTech last attended IAC at the Paris edition in 2022 as a delegate, and at Bremen 2023 with a technical paper submission but without a stand. Milan 2025 represents the first full exhibition stand for ISPTech, with dedicated hardware displays and engineering team availability throughout the congress week.
What Will Be on Display
The stand will feature engineering model hardware from all four product families. The chemical thruster display will include cross-section specimens of the CHT-5A and the newly qualified CHT-20B, allowing visitors to examine combustion chamber geometry, catalyst bed configuration, and nozzle expansion profiles directly. The cold gas RCS display will focus on the CG-50, with qualification-campaign data sheets available for review.
Electric propulsion hardware on display will include a development model of ISPTech's HET-200 Hall-effect thruster, targeting LEO constellation station-keeping applications in the 150–250 W power class. The HET-200 is currently in the advanced development phase; a life test programme is planned for the first half of 2026 and results are expected to be presented at a future IAC or EUCASS. Visitors to the stand should understand that the HET-200 is not yet at qualification status — it is presented as an advanced development item, with flight qualification timelines to be confirmed upon programme entry.
Propellant management unit demonstrations will use a functional model of the PMU-GEO, with a live pressure regulation demonstration showing feed pressure stability across a simulated duty cycle. This tends to be one of the more practical engagement tools at trade stands: satellite propulsion engineers are familiar with the analysis, but seeing a regulation system hold ±0.1 bar across a 10:1 pressure range change is more concrete than a datasheet figure.
Technical Sessions
ISPTech has submitted two papers to the IAC 2025 propulsion symposium technical committees:
- Paper 1 — HET-200 preliminary characterisation: First results from the development programme, covering discharge channel geometry trade studies, propellant utilisation efficiency at 150 W and 250 W operating points, and thrust noise spectrum measurements. Submitted to the Electric Propulsion session (C4.4).
- Paper 2 — CHT-20B life test post-campaign hardware inspection: Detailed inspection findings from the qualification campaign's hardware teardown, focusing on catalyst bed retention, throat erosion measurements, and valve seat condition after 3,000 cycles. Submitted to the Chemical Propulsion session (C4.2).
Acceptance of these papers is subject to the IAC technical committee review process; final confirmation of sessions and presentation times will be communicated through the IAC programme in late August 2025. The papers, if accepted, will be available in the IAC digital library following the congress.
Technical Meeting Availability
ISPTech's engineering team — including the Director of Propulsion Engineering, the Systems Engineer, and the Applications Engineer — will be available throughout the congress week for scheduled technical meetings. These are working-level sessions: reviewing mission requirements, discussing propulsion system integration constraints, examining qualification data, or scoping propellant budget analyses for early-phase programmes.
ISPTech does not operate a passive stand where promotional material is distributed and follow-up is deferred. The intent is for substantive engineering conversations to happen at IAC, with the supporting data — qualification reports, performance curves, interface control documentation — either available on-site or releasable post-meeting under NDA. Prospective customers who have propulsion selection decisions in progress for 2026–2027 launch windows are particularly encouraged to schedule time in advance.
Meeting requests should be submitted before 30 September 2025 via the contact form on this site. Please include the programme name (or a generic mission description if preferred), propulsion type of interest, and available time slots during 13–17 October. ISPTech's team will respond with a confirmed meeting time within five business days of the request.
Export Compliance at IAC
ISPTech's propulsion products are subject to EU dual-use export regulations (EU Regulation 2021/821) and the Wassenaar Arrangement. At IAC, hardware displayed on the stand and technical data discussed in meetings may be subject to export control considerations depending on the nationality and organisational affiliation of the counterpart. ISPTech will apply standard export screening procedures to meeting requests and technical exchanges. Customers from jurisdictions requiring specific export authorisation under German foreign trade law (AWG/AWV) should note this when requesting meetings; ISPTech's team can advise on the documentation process, but authorisation decisions rest with the competent German authority.
This is standard practice for any European propulsion hardware supplier at an international congress, and should not be understood as a limitation on ISPTech's willingness to engage — rather, it reflects the legal framework that all parties in the aerospace propulsion sector operate within.
Logistics and Stand Information
IAC 2025 takes place at the Fiera Milano exhibition centre, Rho, Milan. The ISPTech stand is in Hall 3, the propulsion and power systems hall within the spacecraft technology exhibition cluster. Stand number will be confirmed and published on ISPTech's website and LinkedIn page in late September 2025.
For visitors attending multiple days, ISPTech engineering team members will rotate stand coverage to ensure dedicated availability during both morning and afternoon sessions across all five congress days. Satellite industry visitors attending from outside Europe should note the Fiera Milano venue is accessible from Milan Malpensa Airport by direct shuttle (approximately 35 minutes) or from Milan Centrale by suburban rail (S50 line, approximately 45 minutes to Rho Fiera station).
ISPTech looks forward to technical conversations at Milan. Engineering enquiries in advance of the congress can be submitted via the contact page at any time.