Magdrive and the EIC Accelerator: Plasma Thrusters in Orbit

Magdrive, founded in 2019 by two Imperial College London engineers, builds electric thrusters for satellites that use solid metal as propellant. Its thrusters charge internal energy stores and deliver "high-voltage pulses to detonate metal propellant into high energy plasma", which pushes the spacecraft. The company is based at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.

Magdrive was selected for a "grant only" award in the EIC Accelerator cut-off of October 2021 for Magdrive-Nano, "next generation electric plasma propulsion for the new space age". On our reading of the EIC's note below, the grant was never signed. In a note of 15 September 2022 on the contracts from that cut-off, the European Innovation Council wrote that "Five grant-only projects with United Kingdom beneficiaries have been rejected as Horizon Europe association agreement have not been signed." Magdrive is one of exactly five UK companies selected for grant-only awards at that cut-off, and no Magdrive project appears in CORDIS, the EU's project database. In June 2025 two of its Rogue thrusters launched on a D-Orbit spacecraft, and in February 2026 Magdrive announced they had completed commissioning and firing tests in orbit.

Where Magdrive Stands Today

In 2026 Magdrive opened DEEP Lab, a propulsion test laboratory at Harwell with vacuum testing, cleanroom assembly and plasma diagnostics, supported by the UK Space Agency's Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund and open to other companies. It has signed memoranda with Space Solar on in-orbit energy infrastructure and with Perpetual Atomics on nuclear plasma propulsion, and announced a collaboration with Orbit Fab. Companies House shows share allotments in November 2024 and early 2025, accounts filed for 2025 and a new charge registered in September 2026.

The Technology: Metal Turned Into Plasma

Magdrive delivered the first flight models of its Rogue system to D-Orbit in Milan in January 2025, in a demonstration "funded by the European Space Agency's ScaleUp programme". On D-Orbit's ION spacecraft in a 612 km sun-synchronous orbit, the two thrusters generated plasma and returned telemetry on capacitor voltages, temperatures and injector performance. The company has not published thrust or efficiency figures from the flight.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What the Record Shows

The award promised next-generation electric plasma propulsion. Magdrive's account of the in-orbit demonstration is that its technology works in space, and it says ESA, not Brussels, funded it: on our reading of the EIC's own note the grant Magdrive was selected for was rejected, which would explain why no project appears in CORDIS and why no EU money can be traced to the thrusters that flew. UK Research and Innovation ran a Horizon Europe guarantee for applicants who were unable to receive their Horizon Europe funding while the UK was in the process of associating, which covered EIC Accelerator awards; whether Magdrive claimed it is not public.

1. Flight-ready thrustersDeliveredDelivered to D-Orbit.
2. In-orbit demonstrationDeliveredPer Magdrive; ESA-funded, 2025.
3. Published performanceNot shownNo thrust data.
4. The EIC grant itselfRejectedUK association unsigned, per the EIC.

What Has Happened Since the Award

The Money

On 25 February 2025 Magdrive announced a $10.5 million seed round led by the European venture firm Redalpine, with Founders Fund, Balerion, Alumni Ventures, Outsized Ventures, 7percent and Entrepreneur First, to fund research, a UK manufacturing facility and a US office. It said it had also received "over $10 million" of government funding from the UK government, the UK Space Agency and ESA. Companies House records share allotments between November 2024 and February 2025. No figure for the EIC award has been published, and on our reading of the EIC's note no grant agreement was signed, so none of that money came from Brussels.

Why Europe Should Care

Magdrive is a British company the EIC picked as one of Europe's most promising, then, on our reading of its note, could not pay because the UK's association agreement was unsigned. It flew its first thrusters on a spacecraft from Milan-based D-Orbit in a demonstration Magdrive says ESA funded. The selection stands as the EIC's judgement of the technology.

The Verdict

Magdrive has not been asked for comment for this article. The reporting is based on publicly available sources, including company statements, UK company filings and official European Innovation Council documentation.