OutsideInnovation was founded by aerospace engineer, Thomas Trudel. His university thesis work included 5 years of research on RF ion propulsion and he spent 2 years in the commercial satellite industry at Space Systems/Loral (SS/L). As a Propulsion Hardware Engineer at SS/L Thomas was responsible for components on the SPT-100 electric propulsion system used for north-south station keeping as well as the chemical propulsion system used for primary propulsion and east-west station keeping. He was directly responsible for the COPVs, EP loading operations, and several components on the new DSM-140 subsystem. He also worked on the NASA Lunar Atmospheric Dust and Environments Explorer and participated in proposal writing for DARPA and DoD research projects.
SPACECRAFT PROPULSION
OutsideInnovation has direct experience in developing and qualifying both experimental and flight-proven propulsion hardware.
Plasma simulation, propulsion hardware design, experimental setup, analysis, and documentation are all skills we have practiced for many years. Additionally, we have designed, built, and maintained simulated space environment systems at a laboratory and commercial level. We understand the huge amount of time and resources that can go into qualifying a new spacecraft component and work with your team to ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible. Our broad experience and knowledge of industry expectations should allow us to seamlessly integrate into your team and quickly make a positive impact.
NASA SPACE SCIENCE
One of the featured projects OutsideInnovation worked on while at SS/L was the NASA Lunar Atmospheric Dust and Environments Explorer (LADEE). We worked with the head engineers from the SS/L and NASA teams to successfully deliver the propulsion package for the spacecraft to the integration facility at NASA Ames.
OutsideInnovation was responsible for the design of custom installation hardware as well as numerous aspects of the testing and integration of the flight hardware.
This experience provides OutsideInnovation with a meaningful understanding of the commercial spacecraft industry and spacecraft design from the smallest to largest scales.