Dr Yagya N Regmi, Manchester Metropolitan University and URA Thrusters Ltd

Green hydrogen, which electrolysers generate from water using renewable electricity, is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. It is also an energy carrier, storing renewable energy in chemical bonds. Using fuel cells, this stored energy can then be released when and where needed. This same technology has the potential to revolutionise energy usage in space technologies as well. Traditional fuel used to power spacecrafts, satellites and rockets uses toxic chemicals such as hydrazine. This project aims to develop and demonstrate a water-vapour-based reversible electrolyser that will be used to first generate fuel (hydrogen) and oxygen from water, and then reversed to generate power using hydrogen as the fuel. It plans to overcome materials challenges to develop an efficient and reliable device that the industrial partner can deploy to propel their satellites using sustainable technologies.