Design and In-orbit Demonstration of REGULUS, an Iodine electric propulsion system

Bellomo, Nicolas; Magarotto, Mirko; Manente, Marco; Trezzolani, Fabio; Mantellato, Riccardo; Cappellini, Lorenzo; Paulon, D.; Selmo, A.; Scalzi, Davide; Minute, Marco; Duzzi, Matteo; Barbato, Alessandro; Schiavon, Alessandro; Fede, Simone Di; Souhair, Nabil; Carlo, Paola De; Barato, Francesco; Milza, Fabiana; Toson, Elena; Pavarin, Daniele

doi:10.1007/s12567-021-00374-4

Cited by 41 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…First, the electronics for plasma production shall be optimized and miniaturized since the hardware employed to generate plasma in the GPAs is usually bulky [4], [9]. A similar problem has been solved in the frame of space propulsion, where the electronics for plasma production are miniaturized to be compatible with the CubeSat standards [49], [50]. Second, proper electrodes shall be designed to trigger the plasma production minimizing their EM interference with the propagating waves.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of a Plasma-Based Intelligent Reflective Surface

et al. 2022

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Gaseous Plasma Antennas are devices in which an ionized gas (i.e., plasma) is exploited to transmit and receive Electro-Magnetic waves. Their main advantage over metallic systems is the possibility to reconfigure the antenna performance (e.g., radiation pattern) by electronically varying the plasma parameters (e.g., density). Recently, Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRSs) have been proposed to control the environment between transmitting and receiving antennas manipulating the signals reflected. In this work, the feasibility of a plasma-based IRS is investigated. A theoretical model has been developed to assess the use of plasma as a reflecting medium. Numerical simulations have been performed to preliminary design plasma-based IRSs. Two designs of IRSs, relying on plasma properties consistent with the technology at the state-of-the-art, are proposed. The former enables beam steering operations depending on the continuous control of the phase of the reflected wave. The latter exploits a 1-Bit coding strategy to produce specific diffraction patterns. The main advantage of a plasma-based IRS with respect to the metallic counterpart is the possibility to control the phase of the reflected wave, maintaining the magnitude of the reflection coefficient close to the unit. The main drawback of plasma-based systems is the necessity of using thick plasma elements (in the order of the wavelength in the air) to control the phase of the reflected wave over 360 deg. This constraint can be relaxed if digital plasma elements are adopted.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of a Plasma-Based Intelligent Reflective Surface

et al. 2022

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“…[22,23] The general set of governing equations consists of the balance of mass, momentum and energy for each species present in the plasma, and Poisson's equation. The set of equations for electrons is given in Equations (1)(2)(3):…”

Section: Governing Equationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A very promising concept of an electric propulsion system is the Helicon Plasma Thruster (HPT). [1][2][3][4] It is composed of a discharge chamber of the Helicon type, in which a high-density plasma is produced (≈10 19 m −3 ), and a magnetic-nozzle which is generated by the diverging field lines provided by permanent magnets or coils. The magnetic nozzle is responsible for the acceleration of the plasma and its detachment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different fluid strategies for the simulation of a Helicon Plasma Thruster

Souhair

Ponti

Magarotto

et al. 2022

Contributions to Plasma Physics

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Different fluid numerical strategies have been considered for the analysis of the plasma transport in a Helicon Plasma Thruster, namely the Drift Diffusion solution, the explicitly segregated solution, and the adoption of the Simple algorithm [Patankar & Spalding] for the coupled solution of the continuity and momentum balances. These strategies have been compared in terms of plasma profiles such as electron density and temperature, and their computational efficiency has been assessed. Finally, a sensitivity analysis over the neutrals' pressure has been performed in order to assess the validity of each proposed strategy for different collisional regimes.

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“…Magnetic nozzle radiofrequency (RF) plasma thrusters have been developed worldwide for future high-power electric propulsion systems [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] and low-power small thrusters [8][9][10][11]. The main components of the magnetic nozzle RF plasma thruster are an RF antenna, a dielectric tube, and a solenoid.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vector Resolved Energy Fluxes and Collisional Energy Losses in Magnetic Nozzle Radiofrequency Plasma Thrusters

2021

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Energy losses in a magnetic nozzle radiofrequency plasma thruster are investigated to improve the thruster efficiency and are calculated from particle energy losses in fully kinetic simulations. The simulations calculate particle energy fluxes with a vector resolution including the plasma energy lost to the dielectric wall, the plasma beam energy, and the divergent plasma energy in addition to collisional energy losses. As a result, distributions of energy losses in the thruster and the ratios of the energy losses to the input power are obtained. The simulation results show that the plasma energy lost to the dielectric is dramatically suppressed by increasing the magnetic field strength, and the ion beam energy increases instead. In addition, the divergent ion energy and collisional energy losses account for approximately 4%–12% and 30%–40%, respectively, regardless of the magnetic field strength.

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Design and In-orbit Demonstration of REGULUS, an Iodine electric propulsion system

Cited by 41 publications

References 30 publications

Feasibility of a Plasma-Based Intelligent Reflective Surface

Feasibility of a Plasma-Based Intelligent Reflective Surface

Different fluid strategies for the simulation of a Helicon Plasma Thruster

Vector Resolved Energy Fluxes and Collisional Energy Losses in Magnetic Nozzle Radiofrequency Plasma Thrusters

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