Emission Characteristics of Passively Fed Electrospray Microthrusters with Propellant Reservoirs
Author(s)
Thomas, Robert; Haag, Thomas; Krejci, David; Mier Hicks, Fernando; Lozano, Paulo C
DownloadKrejci-et-al--iEPS characteristics-JSR2017.pdf (8.256Mb)
OPEN_ACCESS_POLICY
Open Access Policy
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The characterization of a miniaturized ionic liquid electrospray thruster for nanosatellite applications is presented. The thruster investigated features an emitter array of 480 emitter tips per square centimeter and a 1 cm[superscript 3] propellant tank with an entirely passive propellant supply; it is operated at a power level of less than 0.15 W. The paper presents energy- and mass-resolving beam spectroscopy of the packaged thruster system, as well as two independent thrust measurements. This allows derivation of thruster performance parameters under realistic firing conditions, including individual thruster efficiency contributions, specific impulse, and thrust. The total thruster efficiencies of 36%; specific impulse of ∼760 s, including all losses; and thrust of 11–12.5 μN are presented at emission currents of 150 μA for a device of ∼1 cm[superscript 2]. The current emission data without current decay of ∼90 h are presented with a maximum of 172 h.
Date issued
2017-07Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and AstronauticsJournal
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
Publisher
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Citation
Krejci, David et al. “Emission Characteristics of Passively Fed Electrospray Microthrusters with Propellant Reservoirs.” Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets 54.2 (2017): 447–458.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
0022-4650
1533-6794