Meet our Scientists: Ice2Thrust.Space Highlights Sascha Dengler — Engineering at the Edge of Physical Feasibility

On the picture: Sascha Dengler, PhD Researcher, Technical University of Munich, Portfolio Manager WEP Thruster, Contributor to Ice2Thrust.Space (S4I2T)

Ice2Thrust.Space is proud to spotlight Sascha Dengler, doctoral researcher at the Technical University of Munich, whose relentless drive to push propulsion beyond its current limits is helping chart a new course for sustainable space travel.

For Sascha, space propulsion means engineering at the edge of physical feasibility. Few technologies fly higher, faster, or burn hotter — and it is the constant search for exceptional solutions that makes the field so compelling.

That passion took practical form during his studies in Mechanical and Process Engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt, where he became involved in student rocketry and early attempts to develop a bi-liquid rocket engine. In 2021, he began his first work on Water Electrolysis Propulsion (WEP) through a master’s thesis exploring its application for de-orbiting CubeSats. What struck him was how little the basic status quo of chemical spacecraft propulsion had changed over the preceding decades. Convinced of WEP’s technical potential, he decided he wanted to be part of changing that.

In 2022, Sascha joined TUM as a doctoral candidate. His research focuses on WEP spacecraft thrusters and the use of transpiration cooling in additively manufactured thrust chambers — an approach that could unlock significantly higher propellant efficiency (specific impulse) than current technologies, while keeping manufacturing costs viable. Demonstrating this level of performance could make the case for much wider adoption of WEP.

The greatest challenge, and much of the appeal, lies in entering uncharted territory across multiple disciplines simultaneously — connecting insights from thermodynamics, materials science, and propulsion engineering on a daily basis. Through Ice2Thrust, Sascha is helping bring WEP closer to practical application. In the next decade, he hopes to see the technology achieve widespread market adoption and enable routine in-orbit refilling — laying the foundations for a truly circular use of resources in cislunar space.

Contact: Sascha Dengler, Portfolio Manager WEP Thruster, Technical University of Munich, Contributor to Ice2Thrust.Space (S4I2T), sascha.dengler(@)tum.de