Plasma Thruster Development

Abstract

The research objective for this project was to investigate and resolve technical issues associated with electric propulsion thrusters, specifically performance and spacecraft integration issues. The thrusters examined include magneto-plasma-dynamic (MPD) thrusters, arcjets, Hall thrusters, and pulsed plasma thrusters. The specific tasks were to identify methods to significantly increase MPD efficiencies, characterize and test laboratory arcjets in support of flight experiments, demonstrate significant gains in impulse to wet mass ratios for Hall thrusters, and develop and test advanced PPT design concepts. Results are summarized and more detail is provided in 34 referenced papers and journal articles.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA416266

Entities

People

  • William A. Hargus

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Efficiency
  • Electric Propulsion
  • Frequency Domain
  • Hall Effect
  • Hall Thrusters
  • Magnetoplasmadynamic Thrusters
  • Military Research
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Pulsed Plasma Thrusters
  • Rockets
  • Space Systems
  • Spacecraft
  • Thrust
  • Thrusters

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster