Horizon Europe project DEEP PPU progress
March, 2023
Project website launch
The project website was launched to provide all the interested parties the latest updates about the project’s implementation. On the website you can also find information about the consortium and project’s goals.
May, 2023
1st webinar
DEEP PPU team in collaboration with Horizon 2020 project GIESEEP MP team organised a webinar Electric Space Propulsion.
July, 2023
Preliminary design review in France
DEEP PPU partners presented the preliminary architecture to reviewers in a Preliminary Design Review at Montmirail (FRANCE). The consortium faces now the challenge of the detailed design phase of the project.
October, 2023
First newsletter
The DEEP PPU entered into its 2nd year of implementation of the project and published its first public newsletter.
October, 2023
Partners present at ESPC 2023
DEEP PPU consortium partners The Center for Industrial Electronics is a Research center of the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid and Airbus Crisa participated in the European Space Power Conference (ESPC2023) in Elche, Spain (October 2023). The consortium partners submitted and presented three papers during this event.
November, 2023
2nd webinar
The DEPP PPU team together with another Horizon Europe project CHEOPS VHP BB and Horizon 2020 project GIESEEP MP organised and hosted a webinar aimed at start-ups and SMEs in space sector. See the presentations.
June, 2024
Critical design review in Madrid
DEEP PPU critical design review was held at Airbus Crisa premises, near Madrid in Spain. Latest design status, together with the first test results, were reviewed to evaluate the maturity of the product. The meeting ended with satisfactory results and the remaining key challenges were identified. DEEP PPU consortium is facing now the final stages of the project where a complete PPU engineering model will be fully tested.
December, 2024
Demonstrates 1kW RF Generator
DEEP PPU team has achieved one of the main research goals of the project, the Radio-Frequency Generator (RFG) unit has experimentally demonstrated the ability of supplying an emulated Gridded Ion Thruster (GIT) through a 6 meters high frequency harness (hundreds of kHz to 1 MHz), providing 1kW power. High frequency harness has shown appropriate behavior, being designed as a trade-off among high frequency parasitic components: ac resistance, inductance and capacitance.
February, 2025
Detailed design review at Airbus Crisa
Detailed Design Review (DDR) Airbus Crisa hosted a Detailed Design Review (DDR) to assess the current status of the system and technology design progress. The Power Processing Unit (PPU), which includes a radiofrequency generator (RFG), is advancing as planned, with key milestones achieved in the radiofrequency harness, inverter, and overall unit analysis. The review confirmed that the project is on schedule, with only output filtering left before final integration and testing.
July, 2025
DEEP PPU Test Readiness Review (TRR)
DEEP PPU Test Readiness Review (TRR) was successfully achieved in July, 2025. PPU characterization progress and RFG prototype results were presented and discussed. PPU test plan for integration and characterization at unit level was agreed between consortium members and project reviewers. The PPU enters now the integration and test phase that will conclude with a coupling test with a thruster simulator in Q4 2025.
October, 2025
DEEP PPU – PPU Integration phase
DEEP PPU is facing the integration of the unit. As boards characterization have been concluded successfully and Test Readiness Review (TRR) has been achieved, Airbus CRISA is starting the assemblage of the different boards of the unit including: Main boards from Airbus CRISA, RFG inverter from UPM (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), including FRAZA high frequency magnetics and AXON Cable harness. Once the assembly is characterized, coupling test with a thruster simulator provided by Airbus DS will be done, validating the performances of the full electric propulsion system. With these tests, DEEP PPU project will achieve its objective of developing and validating a new PPU up to a TRL5 (ESA maturity classification).
November, 2025
Project results
The DEEP PPU project consortium organised a public webinar where the main project developments and results were presented. During the event, all consortium partners showcased their contributions and key achievements. The webinar also outlined the way forward after the end of the project, highlighting future perspectives, sustainability, and potential next steps building on the project’s outcomes.
This was implemented as the final event accessible to everyone webinar.
November, 2025
End of the project
The DEEP PPU project has successfully concluded. The project results remain available after the end of the project on the DEEP PPU website and in the DEEP PPU Zenodo community, ensuring open access to the project’s outcomes and resources.