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The Aerospace Department at FOTEC has been developing the mN-FEEP technology under ESA research contracts for the last decades with the purpose to create a highly controllable and efficient propulsion technology for future science missions. The mN-FEEP thrusters use a crown of sharpened porous Tungsten needles which are wetted with liquid Indium. This crown is raised to a high positive potential to emit and accelerate In + ions. This thruster technology has undergone extensive testing in recent years, including performance mapping of more than hundred emitters and lifetime testing up to more than 13.000 h. Based on this technology, the IFM Nano thruster has been developed as a commercial product for small satellites. This integrated ion propulsion system fits into a volume of less than a single unit CubeSat. In 2017, the first flight model has been manufactured to be flown on an in-orbit demonstration mission, supported by the ESA IOD program ATLAS. This paper presents the results from the extensive test campaigns on proto-flight model level, including efficiency mapping of all subsystems and the validation of the neutralization strategy. The results show that the IFM Nano thruster design is fully functional and provide an outlook on the performance to be expected during in-orbit operation.

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