Design and experimental research of micro-newton thruster

doi:10.7523/j.ucas.2023.058

Abstract

Abstract: The space exploration missions for precise attitude control and orbit adjustment require spacecraft propulsion systems with micro-thrust, high precision, and wide-range continuous adjustment. The cusp-type Hall thruster has the characteristics of simple structure, large thrust range, low power consumption and long working life. This paper proposes a micro-newton cusp Hall thruster with narrower channel and stronger magnetic field. Under micro-flow rate conditions, the narrower channel increases the density of the propellant in the discharge chamber, and the stronger magnetic field improves the confinement efficiency of electrons. This promotes the collision ionization process between electrons and propellant atoms, and the stable thrust of the thruster output is realized. The experimental results show that the flow range(propellant is Xe) is 0.5-1.0 sccm, the voltage range is 0-300 V, the thrust range reaches 5.4-518.9 μN. The response time is better than 150 ms, and the thrust noise reaches 0.1 μN/Hz^1/2at 0.05-1 Hz. When the flow rate of propellant Xe is 0.5 sccm and the voltage is 500 V, the thrust output reaches 50 μN and the specific impulse reaches 104 s. By optimizing the magnetic field design, the performance of this type of micro-newton cusp Hall thruster can be further improved, which can meet the requirements of space exploration missions.

Key words: space electric propulsion, Hall thruster, micro propulsion system, thrust measurement, gravitational wave detection

CLC Number:

TK124

WANG Hao, MU Jianchao, CONG Linxiao, LI Yingmin, LIU Jie, QIAO Congfeng. Design and experimental research of micro-newton thruster[J]. Journal of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2025, 42(3): 412-420.

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