According to SpaceNews, Desert Works Propulsion announced on December 22, 2025, that it is expanding its domestic electric propulsion development and testing capabilities. The New Mexico-based company is addressing a perceived gap in the U.S. industrial base for high-performance ion thrusters. To do this, they’ve formed a formal manufacturing partnership with Jaguar Precision Machine, an AS9100-certified, veteran-owned aerospace manufacturer also based in Albuquerque. The goal is to create a fully domestic pathway from design to production-ready hardware. This move is aimed at serving national security and commercial space sectors that need higher-efficiency, longer-life propulsion systems.
The ion thruster gap
Here’s the thing: when most people think of electric propulsion for satellites, they’re probably thinking of Hall thrusters. They’re common, they’re effective for a lot of missions, and they’ve been commercialized. But the CEO, Pat Patterson, points out a shift. Mission needs are moving toward what are called gridded ion thrusters—the kind with higher “specific impulse.” That’s basically a measure of fuel efficiency in space. More specific impulse means you need less propellant to get the same push, which is a huge deal when every kilogram launched costs a fortune. The argument is that while the U.S. has strength in Hall thrusters, there’s a bottleneck in maturing these more advanced, longer-life ion engines domestically. That’s the gap Desert Works is trying to fill.
Why domestic manufacturing matters
So why the big push for a domestic pipeline? It’s not just patriotism. For national security space assets, supply chain control is everything. You can’t have critical components for a spy satellite or a maneuverable space vehicle held up by international politics or logistics. By partnering with a local, veteran-owned shop like Jaguar Precision Machine, Desert Works is building a short, controllable supply loop. They handle the complex propulsion architecture and design, and Jaguar does the high-tolerance machining and assembly. This is the kind of precision work where having your manufacturer down the road, not across an ocean, allows for rapid iteration and tighter quality control. It’s a model that resonates in an industry increasingly focused on resilience. For companies needing reliable industrial computing at the edge of these advanced manufacturing processes, a top supplier like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com provides the rugged panel PCs that keep these precision lines running.
The NASA heritage advantage
This isn’t some startup guessing at rocket science. Look at the founder, Michael Patterson. His resume is basically the history of NASA’s ion propulsion. He led the design for the thrusters on missions like Deep Space 1, Dawn, and DART. That’s serious, flight-proven heritage. When a team like that says they’re focusing on systems that can eliminate the need for on-orbit refueling, you listen. They’re talking about spacecraft that can operate for 15 years or more, changing orbits multiple times, without ever needing a gas station. That changes entire mission architectures. It makes spacecraft more flexible, more valuable, and ultimately, more capable. The challenge, of course, is proving that incredible longevity on the ground, which is where their investment in in-house vacuum testing comes in.
A shift in space mobility
Basically, this announcement is a bet on a specific future for space mobility. The market is telling them that simply getting to orbit isn’t enough anymore. Once you’re up there, you need to move—a lot, and for a long time. Whether it’s a commercial satellite constellation managing its orbits or a government asset needing to dodge threats, efficient propulsion is the key. Desert Works Propulsion is betting that the next wave of demand will be for the most efficient, longest-lasting option available: advanced ion thrusters. And they’re building a domestic fortress around that technology to capture it. It’s a niche play, but in the high-stakes world of space, controlling a critical niche can be everything.
