In orbit with Alpha Impulsion’s “expendable” rocket

The Italian-French startup is developing Europe’s first hybrid ‘autophagous’ launcher. It promises cheaper and greener launches by 2030

BY EMILIO COZZI

Elon Musk’s quandary at the start of his space entrepreneur career, in the end, was this: why use a rocket only once (as was—and still is—common)? It would be like building an airplane and throwing it away after a single flight.

It was with this premise that the future space billionaire launched a revolution: today, his rockets—at least the first stages of the Falcon 9 and the boosters of the Falcon Heavy—return to Earth to be reused dozens of times. An approach and technology capable of radically cutting costs. Unsurprisingly, SpaceX is currently the global leader in the launch market.

Another way to reduce launch costs is, at least conceptually, the opposite. To summarize and simplify: make a rocket that consumes itself as it performs its function, leaving no trace once in orbit.

This is the idea pursued by the young engineers who founded Alpha Impulsion, an Italian-French startup with offices in Toulouse, Turin, and Naples. For about three years, they’ve been developing propulsion systems based on an innovative technology: “autophagic hybrid propulsion.”

A rocket that burns itself up

Alpha Impulsion’s idea is, if possible, even more radical than Musk’s: why waste fuel to lift a “dead weight” into space—namely, the tanks that hold that fuel?

Their answer led to the conception, construction, and ignition—for the first time in Europe—of a model in which the tank is, strictly speaking, made of fuel. A model that burns itself like a candle.

The video of the test, released by Alpha Impulsion, clearly shows this: during thrust generation, the fuselage shortens because the material it’s made of has turned into energy.

Grenat: a hybrid engine

The rocket engine being developed by Alpha Impulsion is relatively rare in terms of application: it’s a hybrid engine, meaning it uses two types of propellants stored in different states—solid and liquid. As mentioned earlier, the rocket’s fuselage is made of solid fuel—a polymer—which contains a liquid oxidizer (such as hydrogen peroxide). Upon ignition, two pistons insert the structure/fuel into the combustion chamber, where a catalyst triggers the reaction that generates thrust.

This system has been developed and patented by Alpha Impulsion: “By adjusting the speed at which this mechanism feeds solid propellant and oxidizer into the chamber, it’s possible to regulate the thrust and turn the engine on or off,” explains the company. The goal is ambitious, combining two advantages: the simplicity of solid-fuel propulsion, which requires fewer tubes and circuits to manage fluids, and the controllability of liquid or hybrid systems, which can be throttled, shut down, and restarted.

A solid-fuel engine, in fact, is like a firecracker: a tank filled with explosives. Its drawback is that once ignited, the combustion cannot be stopped—making it impossible to shut down the engine mid-flight.

The first ignition in Europe of an autophagic propulsion engine—“the largest ever built of its kind,” as Alpha Impulsion notes in the press release announcing the successful test—took place on May 27, 2025, at the French airport of Agen, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. As Vincenzo Mazzella, COO and co-founder of the startup, stated: “The test demonstrated the stable ignition of the system, controlled combustion, effective use of the fuselage as fuel, structural resistance, seal integrity of the dynamic joints, and proper oxidizer filling procedures.”

For green rockets and satellites

The successful test paves the way for the first operational applications of two engine types: Opal, for satellite propulsion, with applications in both low Earth orbit and deep space (to the Moon, asteroids, and Mars); and Grenat, the light launcher capable of carrying up to one ton into low Earth orbit and 800 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit. Initial tests of the latter are scheduled by the end of the year, with a qualification campaign in 2026 and a maiden flight by 2030.

According to Alpha Impulsion, this technology promises to be more “effective, efficient, and clean,” and could reduce the cost of access and transport to space by up to five times compared to other operators. The target is $6,000 per kilogram to low orbits (comparing only to other light launchers, as SpaceX remains unmatched).

The advantage lies in the simplicity of the architecture: with a weight reduced “by up to 40% compared to traditional systems,” it will be possible to “carry more payload” or at least cut launch costs. Moreover, by reducing mass—and therefore the amount of fuel needed—emissions will also decrease.

Designed as a single-stage-to-orbit system, with no need to discard tanks and engines via multiple separations, the launcher will help reduce environmental pollution both on Earth and in orbit, where no space debris will be left behind. Alpha Impulsion also emphasizes that “the propellants are selected so as not to be explosive and to pose no risks to ground operators during handling.”

Institutional and private support

So far, the company’s project has gained the trust of both institutional and private investors. Founded in 2022, Alpha Impulsion has signed four contracts with CNES (the French space agency), enabling an initial testing campaign in 2023 and the May 27 ignition.

Thanks to investment from Cassa Depositi e Prestiti through the TakeOff accelerator, in 2024 Alpha Impulsion opened an office in Naples, later joining the ESABIC incubator in Turin. With the current funding round underway, the goal is to raise €2 million to reach the next milestones, involving both private entities and public institutions.

The startup is also included in the Space Business Catalyst, the incubator of Thales Alenia Space.

The challenge in the coming years will be to make the system reliable and scalable—both in size and in production capacity.