Performance Characterization of Electrospray Thrusters with Energetic Ionic Liquid Monopropellant
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JPP2026_Bruno_FINAL_MANUSCRIPT.pdf
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Author(s)
Bruno, Amelia
Corrado, Matthew
Lozano, Paulo
Date Issued
May 31, 2026
Journal
Journal of Propulsion and Power
Publisher
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Citation
Performance Characterization of Electrospray Thrusters with Energetic Ionic Liquid Monopropellant. Amelia R. Bruno, Matthew N. Corrado, and Paulo C. Lozano. Journal of Propulsion and Power, 1-13.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
This work characterizes a passively fed porous electrospray thruster firing Advanced SpaceCraft Energetic Non-Toxic propellant (ASCENT, formerly AF-M315E), an energetic ionic liquid monopropellant. Results on thruster current-voltage characteristics, angular beam divergence, plume energy spectra, plume mass spectra, direct thrust measurements, and long duration testing are reported. The propulsive performance is assessed via indirect and direct methods across multiple units. ASCENT is found to provide a thrust-to-power ratio of 40-65 µN/W, a specific impulse of 600 s, and a total efficiency of 15%. The direct and indirect measurements of mass flow rate show significant disagreement, suggesting the presence of additional mass loss mechanisms. No failure modes, significant current decay, or degradation were observed over multiple thruster units up to 167 h firing time. These data can be used to advance development of an ASCENT-fueled multimode chemical-electrospray propulsion system.
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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.2514/1.B40175
