MDA Corporation Ste -
Three Axis Deployable Stationary Plasma Thruster  Module ( TSM ) — The  use of electric orbit raising, instead of chemical propulsion, after launch and  separation of the satellite from the launcher to reach the geostationary orbit  allows reducing propellant mass, and therefore increasing the maximum allowable  spacecraft dry mass. However, today's existing electric propulsion pointing  systems are limited in their degrees of freedom and are available at a high  price. MDA will develop the TSM ,  allowing an intensive and efficient use of electric propulsion on  telecommunications satellites, both for the orbit-raising phase and the station-keeping  manoeuvres. The TSM is a very versatile system, able to re-point thrusters  continuously during multiple years of in-orbit life, and benefits from past  developments of actuators qualified for constellation missions' antennas.