Neumann Space

Neumann Space is an Australian-owned company developing the Neumann Drive, an in-space electric propulsion system that uses a solid metallic propellant to boost spacecraft mobility around the Earth and beyond. The company operates from its own facility in Kent Town, South Australia, close to the Australian Space Agency at Lot Fourteen in Adelaide. It was founded and is guided by executive chairman Peter Schultz, chief scientist Dr Patrick Neumann and director James Schultz, supported by a board with governance, investment and product development experience and an in-house team covering plasma science, engineering and business development.

The Neumann Drive

• Metallic plasma propulsion with an inert, solid propellant pre-loaded during integration, so there are no hazardous materials, pressurised tanks, fluidics or propellant loading before launch, simplifying transport, storage, testing and launch safety clearance, including for rideshare
• No warm-up period, enabling manoeuvres on demand, and a quasi-neutral exhaust that removes the need for a neutraliser cathode
• Pulsed operation that lets the system draw a range of power without losing specific impulse, with high fuel efficiency that raises payload mass fraction and mission life
• Scalable propellant quantity by adding fuel modules or a larger fuel rod, and plug-and-play interfaces that lower spacecraft design costs
• COTS hardware and common materials for short manufacturing lead times

Because the propellant is metal, the company says the system could be refuelled in orbit through in-situ resource utilisation of space debris, supporting life extension, on-orbit servicing and safe deorbiting at end of life.

Milestones

Neumann Drives were deployed on SpaceX Transporter-16, a Neumann Drive was commissioned on SSTL's CarbSAR satellite, Inovor selected the drive for its Hyperion satellite, and the company signed an agreement with The Aerospace Corporation, reported a major commercial milestone and won two awards at the 2026 Australian Space Awards. Partners shown on the site include REDARC Defence and Space, Spire Global and the CONFERS on-orbit servicing consortium. Employees must be eligible for an Australian Government security clearance.

Shows

Neumann Space appears in the exhibitor lists of the Small Satellite Conference 2027, the SmallSat Symposium 2027 and Space Tech Expo Europe 2026.

Contact

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