ECAPS Announces TYR-1: A Swedish–European Orbital Transfer Vehicle Demonstrator for Advanced Space Mobility
Stockholm, Sweden — November 19, 2025 — Building on 190 years of cumulative heritage in enabling critical mobility for international satellites and spacecraft, ECAPS is now expanding its propulsion capabilities to a new operational frontier. Today, the company announces TYR-1: a Swedish build Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) demonstration mission that will showcase sovereign capacity for rapid respond and dual use orbital capabilities.
Started in 2024 and funded by ECAPS, the TYR-1 programme has been created to demonstrate ECAPS’ FAST propulsion architecture as the foundation for sovereign European orbital mobility. TYR-1 integrates ECAPS technology into a complete vehicle platform to showcase the full system-level capability it enables.
TYR-1 will be the first orbital vehicle powered by sustainable, high-performance chemical propulsion, representing a leap for Swedish and European international posture in spearheading innovation for space and defense. It is ECAPS’ most ambitious technology demonstration to date.
“With more than 190 years of cumulative on-orbit heritage, ECAPS is now demonstrating its technology at vehicle scale,” said Odysseas Christofi, CEO of ECAPS. TYR-1 is a step towards strengthening Swedish sovereign posture in developing orbital transfer capabilities built for diverse mission demands. Powered by our FAST propulsion architecture, TYR-1 is accelerating Sweden’s role in enabling European and Allied capacity for advanced orbital maneuvering in the next era of space operations.”
FAST Propulsion Architecture — Demonstrated in an OTV for the First Time
Throughout 2025, ECAPS conducted a series of tests to validate the effectiveness and performance of our proprietary HPGP innovations to power a future OTV demonstration:
ECAPS validated the Fast-Start Thruster (FAST) propulsion architecture after seven dedicated hot-fire campaigns on ECAPS 22N thruster. https://www.ecaps.se/news/snsa-awards-ecaps-contract-for-fast-start-up-thrusters-in-swedens-first-dual-use-program
ECAPS completed two 200N engine demonstration campaigns in November 2025, confirming the performance scaling path toward the 450N-class propulsion module that will power TYR-1.
These achievements in research and development have laid the foundations for the TYR-1 demonstrator – the first mission to fly ECAPS’s advanced FAST architecture into a fully integrated vehicle.
A Sovereign Orbital Vehicle: Swedish Technology, European Supply Chain
TYR-1 demonstrates a propulsion capability that is:
Designed, developed, and engineered in Sweden
Built through a secure, fully EU-based industrial supply chain
A Foundation for Future European In-Orbit Mobility
TYR-1 is the first entry in ECAPS’ next-generation platforms for orbital mobility, commercial services, and dual-use capabilities including:
Payload transfers
Orbital maneuvers, repositioning and optimization
Pre-fueled rapid-response operations
Advanced, high-precision mobility for emerging in-space logistical operations
The TYR-1 Demonstration Mission establishes the technological basis for a scalable family of future OTV capabilities.
Mission Timeline
ECAPS will execute the TYR-1 Demonstration Mission through a structured, multi-phase campaign:
2027 — Suborbital flight demonstration
2028 / 2029 — Full orbital demonstration mission
This progressive build-up ensures a robust qualification path toward full OTV operational capability.
ECAPS is in the process of defining the TYR-1 demonstration site and associated service-provider arrangements. These will be formally announced at the beginning of 2026 as part of the programme’s operational roadmap.
ECAPS: Enabling Capabilities through International Partnerships
As the geopolitical context remains unpredictable and space critical mobility infrastructure is at risk, ECAPS is focusing on supporting European and Allied space industrial posture by developing sovereign propulsion capabilities.
In doing so, on 12 December, ECAPS will launch the world’s first Industrial Sovereign Propulsion Framework (ISPF) designed to empower Sweden and its security partners and allies with critical mobility capabilities for space and defense.
About ECAPS AB
ECAPS AB provides advanced propulsion technologies for commercial, governmental, and defense space applications. With more than 190 cumulative years in orbit, ECAPS is a leading provider of Swedish-European propulsion solutions for future space mobility.
