Advances in Duration Testing of the VASIMR^® VX-200SS^™ System

Abstract

The VX-200SS program will complete design verification, testing and lifetime estimates of a VASIMR ® prototype engine, operating under thermal steady-state at power levels greater than 100 kW for at least 100 continuous hours. The work will bring the integrated VX-200SS VASIMR ® prototype to Technology Readiness Level of 5 (TRL-5), including RF Power Processing Units (PPUs), superconducting magnet, propellant management system, internal thermal management subsystems and the rocket core. The rocket core element resides down the bore of the magnet and is designed to utilize the RF power in conjunction with the high magnetic field to create and accelerate a high power-density plasma stream and manage any waste heat from the process. The accumulation of significant operating time will allow a measurement of the wear of plasma-facing components with sufficient accuracy to evaluate their projected lifetime. The VX-200SS program builds on the successful VX-200™ program and involves manufacturing of a new rocket core and significant upgrades to the RF subsystems, vacuum chamber, computer control, and performance measurement diagnostics. This paper describes the three-year multi-phase VX-200SS program that has been underway for one year.

Fusion and Space

“…В настоящее время VX-200 и стенд для его испытаний прошли модернизацию и проводится программа VX-200SS. Она является финальным этапом стендовых испытаний лётного варианта плазменного ракетного двигателя VASIMR, обеспечивающего непрерывную работу при мощности 100 кВт в течение не менее 100 ч, что определит переход проекта на уровень технологической готовности к его космическим испытаниям [35]. В случае успешного завершения этой программы будет решён вопрос о его космических испытаниях на МКС или ином КЛА для определения реальных рабочих характеристик двигателя и направлений его совершенствования.…”

Electrodeless plasma thrusters for spacecraft: a review

“…VASIMR is an example of a hybrid thruster that uses a helicon plasma source, ion cyclotron resonance heating and a magnetic nozzle to respectively ionize, heat and accelerate plasma [92] (figure 21).…”

“…That development was followed in the 1980s by the hybrid plume plasma rocket where plasma, confined by magnetic mirrors in a solenoidal field, was heated by radio frequency energy and accelerated by the magnetic nozzle formed in the diverging magnetic field [8]. Now known as VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetic Rocket (VASIMR), this hybrid device is undergoing durability tests that are expected to bring the device to NASA's TRL5 [9] in the near future.…”