A thrust measurement system has been developed for the purpose of measuring the thrust produced by a stationary plasma thruster. The measurement system designed and fabricated mainly consists of a thrust balance assembly with strain gauge sensors and associated signal conditioning circuitry. Performance of the system developed was studied, in a vacuum chamber under space simulated conditions, by activating the thruster using xenon as the propellant. Details of the in situ calibration procedure followed are given. The thrust output for discharge powers ranging from 170 to 260 watts was measured and found to be in the range of 4-14 millinewtons. The measurement accuracy and resolution were found to be ±1 mN and 0.3 mN respectively. Specific impulse and thrust efficiency were also estimated.

In order to measure the thrust produced by a Stationary Plasma Thruster, a measurement system has been developed using a thrust balance with thin Jilm strain gauge sensors. For this purpose, strain gauges were designed and deposited on the columns of the thrust balance fabricated and necessary signal conditioning circuit has been used. Performance of the system developed was studied, in a vacuum chamber under space simulated conditions, by activating the thruster. Insitu calibration was done using Lami's principle. For discharge powers varying @om 210-275 Watts, the measured values of thrust were found to be in the range of 11-16 mN with an accuracy off. ImN and resolution of 0.12 mN. Specijk impulse and eflciency were also estimated.

In order to measure the thrust produced by a stationary plasma thruster, a measurement system has been developed using a thrust balance with thin-film strain gauge sensors. For this purpose, strain gauges were designed and deposited on the columns of the thrust balance fabricated and necessary signal conditioning circuits have been used. The performance of the system developed was studied, in a vacuum chamber under space simulated conditions, by activating the thruster. In situ calibration was done using Lami's principle. For discharge powers varying from 210-275 W, the measured values of thrust were found to be in the range of 11-16 mN with an accuracy of 1 mN and resolution of 0.12 mN. Specific impulse and efficiency were also estimated.Index Terms-Stationary plasma thruster, thin-film strain gauge, thrust balance.

A strain gauge based thrust measurement system has been developed, by fabricating a thrust balance with four columns. In order to compare the performance of the different types of strain gauges for ion thrust measurement, foil type strain gauges were bonded to the first column and semiconductor strain gauges were bonded to the second column. Whereas, thin film strain gauges of NiCr and Pt-W materials were deposited on to the third and fourth columns respectively. The strain gauges of a particular type in each column, connected in Wheatstone bridge configuration, were calibrated to measure the thrust produced using Lami's principle and the performance was studied. Strain gauge bridge sensitivities varied from about 6 µV/mN to 115 µV/mN and the non-linearity varied from about 0.98 % to 2.84 % for bridges formed by the different types of strain gauges. Details on the calibration and simultaneous comparative performance study of the system developed have been presented