Skip to content

Accion Systems / Revolution Space

Type: MIT spinout → VC-backed startup → rebranded Location: Boston (Charlestown), MA Founded: 2014 by Natalya Bailey and Louis Perna (MIT Paulo Lozano lab) Product: TILE (Tiled Ionic Liquid Electrospray) thruster — solid-state ion propulsion for smallsats Current name: Revolution Space (rebranded from Accion Systems)

Last updated: 2026-04-14 (session 35)

SST Projects (2)

TILE Propulsion Demonstration — 106827

  • TRL: 3→8 | Period: 2020-01 → 2022-06
  • PI: Oliver Courtney
  • Contract: 80ARC020C0006 (NASA Tipping Point), $3.89M
  • Partnered with NanoAvionics for orbital test on D2/Atlacom-1 satellite. Targeting MarCO-equivalent capabilities in smaller/lighter/lower-power package.
  • Flight heritage: TILE successfully fired in space Aug 2022, raised orbit of NanoAvionics M6P satellite. First electrospray to raise a commercial satellite orbit. Confidence: confirmed (press release, SpaceNews).
  • No TechPort documents attached.

High Specific-Impulse Electrospray Explorer for Deep-Space — 95548

  • TRL: 3→7 | Period: 2018-03 → 2024-08
  • Lead: MIT (not Accion directly) | PI: Paulo Lozano
  • Staged electrospray arrays — discard used arrays to extend lifetime from hundreds to thousands of hours. Deep-space SmallSat propulsion.
  • Academic counterpart to Accion's commercial TILE. Same fundamental technology (ionic liquid electrospray), different application (deep-space vs. LEO).
  • JPL co-investigator organization.
  • No TechPort documents (only project website link).

People chain: Paulo Lozano is both the MIT PI (academic electrospray R&D, [95548]) and the academic founder of Accion Systems. Two SST projects from the same person/lab — one academic, one commercial.

Upstream Lineage

Source Detail Confidence
MIT Space Propulsion Lab Lozano's group developed foundational electrospray technology. Accion spun out 2014 confirmed
Boeing HorizonX Early strategic investor (pre-Series C) confirmed (Space.com)
SST project [95548] MIT academic R&D fed Accion's commercial TILE development suggestive
SST project [106827] $3.89M Tipping Point for orbital demo → first flight heritage confirmed

Federal Funding Footprint

USASpending ($7.2M+ across 7 awards)

Award ID Agency Amount Period Description
80ARC020C0006 NASA $3.89M 2020-01 → 2022-01 Tipping Point — TILE electrospray propulsion demo
FA864920C0078 USAF (DIU) $2.33M 2020-06 → 2021-09 In-space propulsion for multi-layered space defense
FA930025C6016 USAF $499K 2025-08 → 2026-08 R&D study
FA930020C0009 USAF $438K 2020-05 → 2021-05 Multi-mode electrospray propulsion ground test
FA864920P0197 USAF $50K 2019-12 → 2020-03 Open call for innovation (dual-purpose)
NNG16LK50P NASA $6K 2016-09 → 2017-01 Chip thruster hardware purchase
HQ085926FG086 MDA $500 2025-12 → 2035-12 SHIELD initial order (missile defense)

Total federal: ~$7.2M | NASA: ~$3.9M | DoD: ~$3.3M

SBIR History

SBIR.gov API unavailable (rate limited). Web search indicates no large SBIR portfolio — Accion's primary NASA funding was the Tipping Point award, not SBIR.

Venture Funding ($65.5M+ total equity)

  • Series C: $42M (July 2021, led by Tracker Capital — acquired 51% stake, valuation ~$83.5M)
  • Additional round: $5.7M (Sept 2024)
  • Total raised: ~$65.5M+ (Crunchbase)
  • Revenue: ~$3.8M/yr as of 2025

Downstream Impact

Flight Heritage

  • TILE on NanoAvionics D2/Atlacom-1 (2022): First electrospray to raise a commercial satellite orbit. Confidence: confirmed.
  • Additional flights planned with MIT and DoD for 2022-2023 (press announcements; specific mission outcomes unconfirmed).
  • TILE 500-class flight qualification results presented at Space Symposium (Space Foundation Tech Track paper).

Commercial Product

  • TILE thruster family: Modular electrospray panels — attitude control, orbit raising, collision avoidance, deorbiting. Scalable from CubeSats to large platforms.
  • 4th-generation TILE (6× thrust in same form factor) in development as of Series C announcement (2021).
  • Company rebranded to Revolution Space — suggests broader ambitions beyond propulsion.

Defense / National Security

  • MDA SHIELD contract (HQ085926FG086, Dec 2025): $500 initial order on "Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense" — Accion/Revolution Space is in the missile defense supply chain. Confidence: confirmed (USASpending).
  • USAF contracts for multi-mode propulsion and space defense applications ($2.8M+).
  • DIU engagement (FA864920C0078) suggests classified defense interest.

Publications

  • NTRS: 0 citations found (surprising for an MIT spinout; Lozano's academic papers may not be indexed under "Accion" or contract numbers).
  • Space Foundation Tech Track paper on TILE 500-class flight qualification.
  • Likely SmallSat Conference and AIAA papers (not found in NTRS).

Assessment

Outcome category: commercialized | Confidence: confirmed

Accion/Revolution Space is the clearest academic-spinout-to-VC-backed-commercial archetype in the SST portfolio. The lineage runs: MIT Lozano lab → Accion founding (2014) → Boeing investment → SST Tipping Point demo ($3.89M) → first orbital flight (2022) → Series C ($42M) → Revolution Space rebrand → MDA missile defense entry.

What SST funded: The $3.89M Tipping Point was the flight demonstration that turned lab technology into confirmed flight heritage. Without it, TILE would have remained a lab curiosity. The second SST project ([95548], MIT academic) provided the deep-space extension R&D but hasn't directly transitioned.

Surprise delta: The MDA SHIELD contract (Dec 2025) is notable — electrospray propulsion entering missile defense is an unexpected application domain for technology originally targeting CubeSat science missions. Also, the company rebrand to "Revolution Space" suggests they're pivoting beyond propulsion-only.

Compare to Busek: Busek is a 40-year established player where SST was a tiny fraction. Accion is the opposite — a startup where SST's $3.89M was a critical inflection point (flight demo) that de-risked the entire $65M+ fundraising trajectory.

Session 35 check: No significant new developments found. USASpending unchanged (7 awards, $7.2M). No new press or missions announced since session 8. The Revolution Space rebrand and MDA SHIELD entry remain the latest milestones. The $499K USAF R&D study (FA930025C6016, Aug 2025–Aug 2026) is the most recent active contract. Company appears to be in a quiet execution phase — either developing next-gen TILE or operating under classified/NDA work not visible in public sources.