A team from Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi recently released a review in Aerospace of the different CubeSat propulsion technologies currently available—let's look at their advantages and disadvantages.

The paper breaks propulsion systems into four categories: Chemical, Kinetic, Electrical, and "Propellant-less." Chemical systems are the traditional rockets most people think of when launching satellites—they burn chemicals together and expel gas created by the fire to produce thrust. Kinetic systems use things like cold gas, where instead of reacting two chemicals together, they simply push gas molecules out to propel themselves in the opposite direction.