Performance and Evolution of Stationary Plasma Thruster Electric Propulsion for Large Communications Satellites

Corey, Ronald L; Gascon, Nicolas; Delgado, Jorge; Gaeta, Geraldine; Munir, Saghir; Lin, Jeffery

doi:10.2514/6.2010-8688

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Tests have validated the SPT-100 life time as exceeding 2.71 million N-s (equivalent to approximately 9000 hours of operational time) for xenon at the nominal condition. 18,11 This boundary is also marked in red for reference. Some krypton operating conditions within these boundaries may be feasible for completing this mission.…”

Section: Krypton Mission Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This SPT subsystem now has more than thirteen years of cumulative on-orbit experience with a single thruster accumulating over 6 years of near-daily operation. 11 This paper will present the results from thruster performance testing and probe measurements. Although the design of the SPT-100 is optimized for xenon, this exploratory investigation should provide some insight into the possibilities of using krypton as a propellant in Hall effect thrusters, primarily due to its low cost and possible application as a low-development overhead replacement for existing xenon Hall effect thruster systems.…”

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confidence: 99%

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A Performance and Plume Comparison of Xenon and Krypton Propellant on the SPT-100

Nakles¹,

Hargus²,

Delgado³

et al. 2012

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

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The use of krypton as an alternative to xenon for Hall thruster propellant is an interesting option for satellite system designers due to its lower cost. However, this cost-savings comes at the expense of thrust efficiency. Reduction in efficiency can be caused by energy losses from Joule heating, radiation, and the ionization process as well as degradation of plume quality from an increase in velocity distribution spread (most often from an increase in multiply charged ion populations) and geometric beam divergence. 1 In order to quantify this performance reduction for the case of the flight model SPT-100 HET (1.35 kW), performance measurements were made using an inverted pendulum thrust stand. The plume was also characterized by a Faraday probe and RPA measurements to examine how plume qualities change with operating condition. Krypton operating conditions were tested over a large range of operating powers from 800 W to 3.9 kW. Analysis of how performance is impacted by propellant and operating condition is presented. A simple mission analysis was done based on the performance measurements to evaluate the practicality of krypton propellant for an SPT-100 subsystem using krypton propellant for north-south station keeping (NSSK) for a typical communications spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit.Nomenclature e elementary charge g e gravitational constant I axial axial component of integrated thruster beam current I b integrated thruster beam current I d anode discharge current I sp specific impulse j plume charge flux m atomic masṡ m a anode propellant mass flow ratė m i anode ion mass flow rate M 0 initial spacecraft mass M P propellant mass for a spacecraft P anode power * Research Engineer, AFRL/RZSS, q multiple for units of elementary charge r radial distance in thruster coordinate system V ion acceleration voltage V mean ion acceleration voltage from a distribution function V d anode discharge voltage V 0 ion retarding grid potential for retarding potential analyzer Γ current collected by retarding potential analyzer ∆V average ion acceleration voltage for the thruster plume or velocity change for a spacecraft η a anode efficiency θ angular position in thruster coordinate system or thruster cant angle λ plume momentum divergence half-angle, λ = arccos(< cos(θ) > mv ) ≈ arccos(< cos(θ) > j ) Φ P propellant utilization efficiency Ψ B beam efficiency (divergence loss factor) <> j charge flux weighted average quantity in the plume <> m mass weighted average quantity in the plume <>mv momentum weighted average quantity in the plume Introduction F or a number of engineering reasons, xenon is the propellant of choice for Hall effect thrusters. These include its high mass (131 amu) and its relatively low ionization potential (12.1 eV). Furthermore, the inert nature of xenon eliminates the safety concerns that plagued early electrostatic propulsion efforts when mercury and cesium were the propellants of choice. Although xenon is a noble gas, it is the most massive, and due to its non-ideal gas behavior, it is possible to...

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Section: Krypton Mission Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Performance and Plume Comparison of Xenon and Krypton Propellant on the SPT-100

Nakles¹,

Hargus²,

Delgado³

et al. 2012

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

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Tests have validated the SPT-100 life time as exceeding 2.71 million N-s (equivalent to approximately 9000 hours of operational time) for xenon at the nominal condition. 15,11 This boundary is also marked in red for reference. Some krypton operating conditions within these boundaries may be feasible for completing this mission.…”

Section: Krypton Mission Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

A Performance Comparison of Xenon and Krypton Propellant on an SPT-100 Hall Thruster (Preprint)

Nakles¹,

Hargus²,

Delgado³

et al. 2011

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Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY)10-08-2011 REPORT TYPE Conference Paper DATES COVERED (From -To) TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER A Performance Comparison of Xenon and Krypton Propellant on an SPT-100 Hall SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)Air Force Research Laboratory (AFMC) AFRL/RZS SPONSOR/MONITOR'S Pollux Drive NUMBER(S)Edwards AFB CA 93524-7048 AFRL-RZ-ED-TP-2011-342 DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENTApproved for public release; distribution unlimited (PA #11558). SUPPLEMENTARY NOTESFor presentation at the 32 nd International Electric Propulsion Conference, Wiesbaden, Germany, 11-15 Sep 2011. ABSTRACTThe use of krypton as an alternative to xenon for Hall thruster propellant is an interesting option for satellite system designers due to its lower cost. However, this cost-savings comes at the expense of thrust efficiency. Reduction in efficiency can be caused by energy losses from Joule heating, radiation, and the ionization process as well as degradation of plume quality from an increase in velocity distribution spread (most often from an increase in multiply charged ion populations) and geometric beam divergence.1 In order to quantify this performance reduction for the case of the flight model SPT-100 HET (1.35 kW), an ongoing series of experimental measurements is being conducted to measure how various thruster efficiency terms change with propellant and operating condition. This study will combine thrust measurements with plume data from electrostatic probes. This paper presents the results of performance measurements made using an inverted pendulum thrust stand. Krypton operating conditions were tested over a large range of operating powers from 800 W to 3.9 kW. Analysis of how performance is impacted by propellant and operating condition is presented. A simple mission analysis was done based on these measurements to evaluate the practicality of krypton propellant for an SPT-100 subsystem using krypton propellant for north-south station keeping (NSSK) for a typical communications spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit.. SUBJECT TERMS

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“…The SPT-100s provide impulse for on-orbit inclination and eccentricity control, momentum wheel unloads, and limited electric orbit raising (EOR) [1]. Building on this flight heritage SSL has worked with the Engineering Design Bureau Fakel (EDB Fakel) of Kaliningrad, Russia to develop and qualify the higher power SPT-140 for flight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualification of the SPT-140 for use on Western Spacecraft

Delgado¹,

Corey²,

Murashko³

et al. 2014

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

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Increasing demand for larger and more efficient geostationary communication spacecraft in the recent years has greatly increased the demand for electric propulsion subsystems. As a result Space Systems Loral SSL has decided to leverage the heritage of the very successful SPT-100 subsystem to develop a new SPT-140 subsystem. New market requirements were taken into account along with lessons learned from 35,000+ hours of in-orbit Hall Effect Thruster operations on SSL spacecraft. The new subsystem centers around the EDB Fakel manufactured SPT-140. Two qualification models were built: A life test unit and a systems test unit. Qualification model 001 (QM001) has undergone acceptance, qualification level testing, and has accumulated 6000+ hours of operation to date in a life test which will conclude with a total impulse of 8.17 MN-sec. Qualification model 002 (QM002) is a systems test unit which has been delivered to SSL post-acceptance testing. The unit has since completed plume characterization and performance testing at NASA GRC and The Aerospace Corporation. Testing with QM002 will continue through 2013 with a full end-toend test being performed using a qualification model PPU, harness, and flight positioning mechanism. This paper is a summary of testing to date and an overview of future works.

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Performance and Evolution of Stationary Plasma Thruster Electric Propulsion for Large Communications Satellites

Cited by 21 publications

References 11 publications

A Performance and Plume Comparison of Xenon and Krypton Propellant on the SPT-100

A Performance and Plume Comparison of Xenon and Krypton Propellant on the SPT-100

A Performance Comparison of Xenon and Krypton Propellant on an SPT-100 Hall Thruster (Preprint)

Qualification of the SPT-140 for use on Western Spacecraft

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