Northwest Aerospace News February | March 2019 Issue No. 7 | Página 12

Research and development mode to production Tethers Unlimited has been in a research and development (R&D) mode for much of their time in business. Hoyt said that it’s only been in recent years that they have gone into production mode with their products. They now have 72 employees at their plant in Bothell. An employee of five years, Allison Porter, Ph.D., flight mission manager with Teth- ers Unlimited said that although they are now producing products going onto the space station, among other tangible items, she sees them staying focused on R&D for the foreseeable future. “It’s about find- ing balance,” she said, and added, “we are really good at R&D.” 12 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS HYDROS-M The HYDROS Propulsion System uses on-orbit electrolysis of water to generate hydrogen and oxygen propellant, which are fed to a simple bipropellant thruster. The HYDROS-M flight units are currently shipping with flight heritage anticipated by late 2018.