Side Feeding Mechanism for Micro Cathode Arc Thruster

Abstract

The primary focus of this work is to characterize a micro-cathode arc thruster with a propellant feeding mechanism to extend its lifetime. To that end, we have proposed a side-feeding micro-cathode arc thruster. The thruster’s in-built feeding mechanism allows the cathode to be consumed during operation, providing a continuous supply of propellant. The ion-to-arc current fraction of about 0.025 was detected and an initial pulse count of 1.34M was achieved, demonstrating the effectiveness of the feeding mechanism. An average erosion rate of 4 µg/C was measured and a total change in cathode length of 10 mm indicates the successful implementation of the spring-loaded side feeding mechanism.