French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Frédérique Vidal, French research and innovation minister, and Bruno le Maire, French economy and finance minister, are shown holding the ExoMG Hall-effect thruster during their visit to Exotrail on Jan. 8.

Update: This article was updated on Jan. 12 at 1:09 pm Eastern time with information about initial thruster testing. SAN FRANCISCO – French startup Exotrail announced Jan. 12 that its miniature Hall-effect thruster ignited in orbit, and propelled a NanoAvionics R2 cubesat to change its semi-major axis by 700 meters. “This is the smallest Hall […]

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Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is a recipient...