Alpha Impulsion

Alpha Impulsion is a space propulsion start-up developing the autophage rocket engine, a system in which the rocket burns its own structure as fuel, with a growing team of rocket engineers based in France and Italy since 2022. In autophage propulsion the engine gradually consumes the rocket body from the bottom upwards during ascent, so the vehicle gets shorter in flight like an upside-down candle; by removing fuel tanks, staging systems and secondary engines the company says it can cut total rocket mass by up to 40 percent and launch costs by a factor of five, while leaving no discarded stages in orbit.

Programmes

• In 2025 the company successfully hot fired what it describes as the world's largest autophage rocket engine, and it designs, assembles and tests everything in house on a design, build, test, repeat cycle
• AMBRE, a programme started in 2023 with strong support from CNES and interest from other European space agencies, aims to demonstrate the flight of a small-scale autophage rocket with 1 kN of thrust
• Grenat, a dedicated light launcher offering dedicated launches at rideshare prices, with an inaugural launch planned for the 2030s and payload capacity growing to 500 kg as full industrial operations are reached by the end of that decade
• Opal, an in-space autophage thruster for moving satellites to their operational orbits, propelling payloads to the Moon, Mars and deep space, transferring cargo between orbits and servicing spacecraft, built as a modular design that scales with the payload

Technology

• Patented engine that replaces heavy, costly structures with functional fuel
• Non-toxic, non-hypergolic propellants with zero TNT equivalent, simplifying ground handling and protecting spacecraft from accidental combustion
• Reduced space debris because the propulsion system consumes its own structure and remaining hardware is safely deorbited

Company

Alpha Impulsion presents its work as a breakthrough for European sovereignty in launch and end-to-end propulsion rather than catching up with other regions, and invites launch customers, investors, partners and candidates to get in touch, including requests for its payload user guide. It is supported by Bpifrance, is a member of the International Astronautical Federation and of GIFAS and its StartAir start-up programme, and publishes news in a newsroom and videos on YouTube.

Shows

Alpha Impulsion appears in the exhibitor lists of Space Tech Expo Europe 2026 and the Paris Air Show 2027.

Contact

France and Italy
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