Assessment of High-Voltage Solar Array Concepts for a Direct Drive Hall Effect Thruster System

Mikellides, Ioannis G.; Jongeward, G. A.

doi:10.2514/6.2003-4725

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Direct-drive concepts have been around for a long time 15 and were investigated at low powers (≤ 1 kW) with Hall thrusters over the last two decades. [16][17][18][19][20] Direct-Drive PPUs (DDUs) hold the promise of having significantly higher efficiency, resulting in a slightly smaller solar array and significantly less waste heat, and potentially being much easier to develop.…”

Section: Direct-drivementioning

confidence: 99%

300-kW Solar Electric Propulsion System Configuration for Human Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

Brophy

Gershman²,

Strange³

et al. 2011

47th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

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The use of Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) can provide significant benefits for the human exploration of near-Earth asteroids. These benefits include substantial cost savingsrepresented by a significant reduction in the mass required to be lifted to low Earth orbitand increased mission flexibility. To achieve these benefits, system power levels of 100's of kW are necessary along with the capability to store and process tens of thousands of kilograms of xenon propellant. The paper presents a conceptual design of a 300-kW SEP vehicle, with the capability to store nearly 40,000 kg of xenon, to support human missions to near-Earth asteroids.

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Section: Direct-drivementioning

confidence: 99%

300-kW Solar Electric Propulsion System Configuration for Human Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

Brophy

Gershman²,

Strange³

et al. 2011

47th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These missions in the hundreds of kW range are possible due to advancements in photovoltaic arrays 19 (e.g., Boeing's FAST arrays 20 ) and solar concentrators. Missions requiring even higher power levels would likely need to make use of low specific power nuclear reactors.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electric Propulsion of a Different Class: The Challenges of Testing for MegaWatt Missions

Florenz¹,

Liu²,

Gallimore³

et al. 2012

48th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

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Currently, there is great interest in the development of high-power electric propulsion (EP) devices that can be employed in missions requiring >100 kW levels of propulsive power. Of the candidates for such thrusters, the Nested-channel Hall thruster (NHT) has been shown to be particularly scalable to this mission requirement. To this end, the University of Michigan's Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL), in conjunction with both the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and NASA, has developed a 100-kW-class NHT called the X3. While bringing the X3 to test-ready status, a number of developmental and facility-related challenges were encountered and overcome. This paper presents these challenges and the lessons learned associated with the X3's design, fabrication, and testing as a case study to inform other high-power EP development efforts.

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“…Future high power electric propulsion applications may feature a direct connection of the high voltage solar array to the main discharge of the electric thruster (specifically, HET) due to potential mass savings -this is known as 'direct drive'. Direct drive has been discussed extensively in the literature [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. The SEP TDM can include a low power, direct drive Hall effect thruster (DD-HET) demonstration to validate its feasibility at the system level, Hall Thruster American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics particularly through the inner radiation/plasma belt.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Direct Drive Experiment as Part of a SEP Demonstration

Deininger¹,

Enger²,

Unruh³

et al. 2014

50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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The Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) is a stepping stone leading to a reusable electric propulsion stage by demonstrating high power (10s kW) transfers from LEO to GEO and back to LEO. A TDM space vehicle is discussed which includes multiple enhancement payloads including a direct drive demonstration experiment. The baseline SEP TDM includes four 5 kW conventional Hall effect thrusters.The direct drive demonstration adds a 300 W direct drive Hall effect thruster system and associated high voltage, solar array strings and distribution to provide the power to the direct drive demonstration system. The complete direct drive demonstration system is based on heritage hardware. The focus is a system-level demonstration of direct drive in the space environment.

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Assessment of High-Voltage Solar Array Concepts for a Direct Drive Hall Effect Thruster System

Cited by 7 publications

References 10 publications

300-kW Solar Electric Propulsion System Configuration for Human Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

300-kW Solar Electric Propulsion System Configuration for Human Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

Electric Propulsion of a Different Class: The Challenges of Testing for MegaWatt Missions

A Direct Drive Experiment as Part of a SEP Demonstration

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