Novel Air-Breathing Ion Propulsion for Space Vehicle in Low Earth Orbit
Abstract
Air breathing electric propulsion technology could give spacecraft access to the very low earth orbits (VLEO) with heights of 100 km to 250 km. These low orbits are interesting for earth observation tasks, low latency communication and have a reduced risk for space debris. This region is usually restricted for satellites because the residual atmosphere causes significant drag, which needs to be overcome with high thrust and therefore a continuous flow of propellant. This is not feasible for S-C with a finite propellant storage. Several concepts have been investigated so far which are usually based on the collection of neutral atmosphere molecules, a compression stage to increase the density and the subsequent feeding of the collected particles to an ionization and acceleration stage like a Hall-effect thruster, a gridded thruster, an RF thruster or a PPT.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2023
- Source ID
- FA86552117014
Entities
People
- Martin Tajmar
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Technische Universität Dresden
- United States Air Force