A Vacuum Arc Thruster with Ablatable Anode

Kolbeck, Jonathan; Lukas, Joseph; Teel, George; Keidar, Michael

doi:10.2514/6.2016-5041

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Vacuum arc thrusters (VATs) are gaining popularity as simple and reliable propulsion engines for small satellites such as CubeSats. VATs typically work in a pulsed regime; however, there have been successful attempts to design VATs capable of working in a continuous DC mode [6]. This type of thruster produces thrust by expelling away from the spacecraft the quasi-neutral plasma produced between two electrodes (anode and cathode) separated by a dielectric with conductive film above it.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of discharge triggering in micro-cathode vacuum arc thruster for CubeSats

Zolotukhin

Keidar

2018

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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The ignition and optimization of the pulsed micro-cathode triggerless vacuum arc thruster model are analyzed. To this end a simplified model of the thruster consisting of two rectangular electrodes on an alumina ceramic plate with a variable inter-electrode gap covered by a conductive film of carbon paint is considered. It is shown that after optimizing the inter-electrode gap, the electrical power and the value of the magnetic field parallel to the film surface, such an 'idealized' thruster model can provide up to 1.2-1.3 million pulses with a high degree of stability of ignition and a large amplitude of arc current. These findings may be used in designing longlife and durable low-power micro-cathode thrusters with rigidly fixed, unmovable electrodes. We also propose the concept of a modular thruster consisting of separate elementary consumable thrusters-the modular thruster lifetime increases with the number of these elementary thrusters.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of discharge triggering in micro-cathode vacuum arc thruster for CubeSats

Zolotukhin

Keidar

2018

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…1.5U BRICSat-P featuring 4 VAT thruster heads developed by the University of Washington, indicated by white arrows, from Ref. [78] in 2015), raising the orbital altitude by ∼ 600m, and performing attitude control tasks [64].…”

Section: B Small Satellite Case Ep: Hall Thrustermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A type of Vacuum arc thruster called Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster (µCAT) of the University of Washington [78], [79] has flown on the BRICSat-P mission, a 1.5 U Cubesat launched in spring 2015, featuring 4 µCAT thruster heads. Fig.…”

Section: Nanosatellte Case 2: Vacuum Arc Thrusters and Pulsed Plasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Propulsion Technology for Small Spacecraft

2018

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Abstract-As small satellites become more popular and capable, strategies to provide in-space propulsion increase in importance. Applications range from orbital changes and maintenance, attitude control and desaturation of reaction wheels to drag compensation and de-orbit at spacecraft end-of-life. Space propulsion can be enabled by chemical or electric means, each having different performance and scalability properties. The purpose of this review is to describe the working principles of space propulsion technologies proposed so far for small spacecraft. Given the size, mass, power and operational constraints of small satellites, not all types of propulsion can be used and very few have seen actual implementation in space. Emphasis is given in those strategies that have the potential of miniaturization to be used in all classes of vehicles, down to the popular 1-liter, 1 kg CubeSats and smaller.

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“…The major advantage of vacuum arc with respect to pulsed laser deposition is, that the deposition area can be easily enlarged by enlarging the cathode size. More over vacuum arcs can be easily scaled with the available power budget and they have already been operated in space environment as electric propulsion system for Cubsats [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vacuum Arc Plasma Coating for Polymer Surface Protection— A Plasma Enhanced In-Orbit Additive Manufacturing Concept

Kühn-Kauffeldt

Kühn

Mallon

et al. 2022

Plasma

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In-orbit additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising approach for fabrication of large structures. It allows to expand and accelerate human space exploration possibilities. Extrusion-based AM was demonstrated in zero gravity, while the realization of such a process in orbit-like vacuum conditions is currently under exploration. Still, a solution for protection of the UV and IR radiation sensitive polymers is needed in order to prevent their early mechanical failure under space conditions. Vacuum arc plasma based process is widely applied on earth for thin protective coating deposition. Its major advantage is its scalability — from tiny size used in electric propulsion to large scale coating devices. The usability of the vacuum arc process in space conditions was shown in electric propulsion applications in nano-satellites. In this work we discuss and demonstrate the integration of vacuum arc process as a post processing step after Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) for additive manufacturing and functionalization of long polymer structures. Here we address the concept for technical realization, which integrates the vacuum arc into additive manufacturing process chain. More over we present a laboratory prototype, which implements this concept together with a use case, where a previously printed PEEK structure is coated with aluminum based coating suitable for UV radiation protection.

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A Vacuum Arc Thruster with Ablatable Anode

Cited by 4 publications

References 11 publications

Optimization of discharge triggering in micro-cathode vacuum arc thruster for CubeSats

Optimization of discharge triggering in micro-cathode vacuum arc thruster for CubeSats

Space Propulsion Technology for Small Spacecraft

Vacuum Arc Plasma Coating for Polymer Surface Protection— A Plasma Enhanced In-Orbit Additive Manufacturing Concept

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