Liquid propulsion systems for orbit insertion of unmanned spacecraft

Feasibility of simple bipropellant blowdown systems

“…1 ' 2 Thrusters have been employed for stationkeeping and attitude control spacecraft applications, 3 ' 4 and studies have indicated potential advantages for the bipropellant blowdown mode of operation. 5 This Note examines the feasibility of a simple bipropellant blowdown system which dispenses with the requirement for active components such as pressure regulators and check valves, and minimizes the number of other components including isolation valves, fill valves, and instrumentation. In addition, this study assumes that the propellant management and expulsion function is performed by a passive surface tension device in the tank rather than a movable diaphragm or bladder; this feature provides more flexibility in terms of the size and shape of the propellant tanks, and increases the potential for reuseability.…”