Electromagnetic Steering of Sodium-Seeded Rocket Thrust Plumes: Design & Analysis

Abstract

This paper explores the use of the Lorentz force to magnetically steer a rocket engine’s thrust plume, creating an off-axis thrust component. The perpendicular force component thus generated, for the sample design used is estimated at 0.002% without sodium seeding, and 3.5% with said seeding. The design of a prototype thruster is undertaken, burning gaseous propane and oxygen, resulting in a combustion chamber, expansion nozzle, and a magnetic circuit to drive the Lorentz steering force. While the predicted unseeded effect is too small to be useful, sodium seeding may be viable on small vehicles or satellites where minimizing overall system complexity is benefited by eliminating otherwise separate attitude control systems.