Two interesting fields of applications are envisaged for a miniaturized, modular FEEP thruster: first, micronewton-level missions. For drag-free control and fine pointing of scientific spacecraft, a miniaturized device would offer additional, albeit limited, dry mass savings, and increased ease of distributing the thrusters over the spacecraft surface, as required. The second field is that of missions in the 1 - 10 mN thrust range, including attitude control and orbit maintenance of small to medium satellites. In this case, a modular FEEP thruster can lead to significant mass savings, due to both the reduced dry mass of the propulsion hardware and to the low propellant consumption resulting from the high specific impulse (about 8000 s). As for the associated high power-to-thrust ratio, this is becoming more and more manageable with the increased power availability of modern spacecraft buses. In this early phase of the miniaturized FEEP development, several engineering problems have been addressed, including silicon compatibility with the propellant (cesium, indium or other liquid metals) and propellant reservoir sealing. Electrode geometry optimization has been also investigated. Prototype microslits have been manufactured with the desired geometrical parameters, and emission tests are underway. Various accelerator electrode configurations, featuring arrays of wires and perforated thin plates, have been studied.
FEEP and MicroFEEP Development
MARCUCCIO, SALVO;ANDRENUCCI, MARIANO
1998-01-01
Abstract
Two interesting fields of applications are envisaged for a miniaturized, modular FEEP thruster: first, micronewton-level missions. For drag-free control and fine pointing of scientific spacecraft, a miniaturized device would offer additional, albeit limited, dry mass savings, and increased ease of distributing the thrusters over the spacecraft surface, as required. The second field is that of missions in the 1 - 10 mN thrust range, including attitude control and orbit maintenance of small to medium satellites. In this case, a modular FEEP thruster can lead to significant mass savings, due to both the reduced dry mass of the propulsion hardware and to the low propellant consumption resulting from the high specific impulse (about 8000 s). As for the associated high power-to-thrust ratio, this is becoming more and more manageable with the increased power availability of modern spacecraft buses. In this early phase of the miniaturized FEEP development, several engineering problems have been addressed, including silicon compatibility with the propellant (cesium, indium or other liquid metals) and propellant reservoir sealing. Electrode geometry optimization has been also investigated. Prototype microslits have been manufactured with the desired geometrical parameters, and emission tests are underway. Various accelerator electrode configurations, featuring arrays of wires and perforated thin plates, have been studied.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
