Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Francho Garcia, Co-Founder & CEO of Arkadia Space, to discuss green chemical propulsion. Arkadia Space is developing hydrogen peroxide-based propulsion systems for satellites, launchers, capsules, and space vehicles above 100 kilograms. The company is focused on replacing toxic legacy propellants with affordable, flight-proven chemical propulsion for maneuvering, RPO, lunar missions, and future space infrastructure.
Timestamped Overview
00:00 – Introduction to Arkadia Space and green propulsion02:12 – Founding story and lessons from PLD Space04:40 – Hydrogen peroxide propulsion history and advantages07:50 – Mission profiles enabled by Arkadia’s propulsion systems10:00 – Chemical versus electric propulsion in future space markets12:28 – Arkadia’s in-space demonstration and flight heritage15:50 – Building a space technology company in Spain19:26 – European space ecosystem growth and funding challenges21:00 – Customer segments across satellites, capsules, launchers, and spaceplanes23:33 – High-maneuverability spacecraft, refueling, and replenishment27:02 – Competitive landscape and Arkadia’s differentiation29:45 – Hydrogen peroxide as a future refueling standard31:31 – Nuclear propulsion and chemical propulsion mission roles34:08 – Launch bottlenecks and the need for SpaceX competition37:11 – Why building a scalable rocket company is difficult39:18 – Scaling Arkadia’s propulsion manufacturing42:33 – Large orbital platforms and the coming infrastructure era45:52 – Key takeaways for Arkadia and the space sector48:28 – Upcoming commercial contracts and closing remarks
