A new kind of rocket technology

U.S. defense officials are interested in a new rocket technology developed by a Reno company.

The tiny thrusters developed by Digital Solid State Propulsion LLC could improve safety on naval ships, extend the lives of satellites or make movie special effects safer and less expensive.

"Their thrusters are unique in the technology they use," said Bob Twiggs, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford who acts as an unpaid advisor to the company. "I think in the future there will be applications for them to be used on launch rockets as attitude adjusters."

The thrusters, about the size of half of a pinky finger, were developed by Wayne Sawka, the owner of Digital Solid State Propulsion. The former director of an entrepreneurship program at the University of California, Davis, Sawka left teaching to become a consultant six years ago.

While he was consulting with a company that developed a new kind of propellant, he independently developed and patented hardware to use with the new propellant. And he negotiated a license to use it in the systems he developed.

He launched Digital Solid State Propulsion last year with his own savings, and in January landed his first government contract from the Missile Defense Agency.

The attention-grabber: Unlike traditional rockets, the company's thrusters can be turned on and off.

"Current solid propellant thrusters can only be started, have one thrust level and can't be turned off until complete burnout," said Twiggs.

The propellant is also unique, according to Twiggs.

Unlike liquid or solid fuels that can be accidentally ignited, the propellant used by Digital Solid State Propulsion is electrically controlled. Exhuasts are non-toxic.

A researcher in defense technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C. think tank, also sees potential for the Reno company's products.

The biggest thing that limits the life of a satellite is how much fuel it has in the thrusters, said Pierre Chao, a senior fellow at the center.

"I'm not surprised the government is interested in this technology. It is something critical to extend the life of and flexibility of satellites," he said.

Safety is also a big consideration.

"One of the last thing you want to have when you are out at sea is a fire. Any reasonably priced technology that can reduce the risk of fire should be of interest to the Navy," Chao said.

In the near term, Sawka is in the process of developing an igniter to light rockets more safely

"It's our major push in the future," he said.

He also envisions commercial applications that might include nail guns or safe and inexpensive special effects in action movies.

"Safety is paramount there. You could literally throw these in the fire and they don't burn," he said, "Ours are so safe they shouldn't be classified as explosives at all."

Sawka also envisions James Bond type applications. For example, he says, the microthrusters could be installed in portable computer electronics to keep data from falling into the wrong hands.

"You could safely fry your disk drive. You wouldn't have it, but no one else would either," he said.

However, Chao said price is the key question before the technology moves into commercial markets.

"A good technology that is cheap is always a great combination," he said. Sawka declined to discuss potential pricing.

He hopes to raise funding from venture capitalists at the Silver & Gold Venture Capital Conference in Reno next month.

"The time to look for money is when you don't need it," said Sawka, "I would like to take on an investor or two that would have a real interest in the business to grow the company."