Research on the neutralization control of the RF ion micropropulsion system for the‘Taiji-1’satellite mission

To achieve the neutralization control requirements of the radio-frequency(RF)ion microthruster(μRIT)in the‘Taiji-1’satellite mission,we proposed an active neutralization control solution that is based on the carbon nanotube field emission technology.The carbon nanotube field emission neutralizer(CNTN)has the characteristics of light weight,small size,and propellantless,which is especially suitable for the neutralization control tasks of ion microthrusters.The Institute of Mechanics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,in collaboration with Tsinghua University,has successfully developed a CNTN to meet mission requirements.On the ground,the feasibility of cooperation working betweenμRIT and CNTN was fully verified,as well as the simulation and experimental study of neutralization control strategy,which finally passed the engineering assessment test.Since the launch of‘Taiji-1’satellite on 31 August,2019,the RF ion micropropulsion system has successfully completed nearly one hundred test missions in space.The test results indicate that CNTN does not have performance degradation,and the neutralization control strategy is effective.

A brief review of alternative propellants and requirements for pulsed plasma thrusters in micropropulsion applications

Technological miniaturization has enabled the development of small satellites weighing as little as 1 kg.Unfortunately,there is still a lack of suitable efficient micropropulsion systems at these scales.The pulsed plasma thruster is a structurally simple form of electric propulsion.This simplicity also makes it ideally suited for miniaturization.Its history can be traced back to applications in satellites that are much larger than micro/nano-satellites.The vast majority of modern pulsed plasma thrusters use solid polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE)as a propellant.Unfortunately,at lower discharge energy levels such as those necessitated by the power limitations of micro/nano-satellites,PTFE has a tendency to exhibit carbon deposition,which can ultimately lead to thruster failure.In this new era of small satellites,it is important to consider alternative propellants in the miniaturization of pulsed plasma thrusters.This brief review discusses the needs and limitations of small satellites and alternative propellants that may be able to meet these needs.Such propellants may be able to offer advantages such as a longer thruster lifetime,a higher specific impulse,or a higher thrust-topower ratio.This would enable the development of different types of pulsed plasma thrusters that can be tailored towards specific mission requirements.

Volumetric Langmuir probe mapping of a transient pulsed plasma thruster plume

The triple Langmuir probe enables measurements of the transient plasma parameters over time at a point of interest.We demonstrate how these measurements can be easily combined to obtain a visualization of the overall plasma behavior of a pulsed plasma thruster.Through this,it is possible to identify features in the expansion of the plasma such as the canting angle of the plume.We also identified the early arrival of a negatively canted low-density plasma plume.The 2D profiles also reveal data that would otherwise be obscured by other planes in optical measurements.

Multiphysics Simulation of a Novel Concept of MEMS-based Solid Propellant Thruster for Space Propulsion

This work analyzes a novel MEMS-based architecture of submillimeter size thruster for the propulsion of small spacecrafts,addressing its preliminary characterization of performance.The architecture of microthruster comprises a setup of miniaturized channels surrounding the solid-propellant reservoir filled up with a high-energetic polymer.These channels guide the hot gases from the combustion region towards the nozzle entrance located at the opposite side of the thruster.Numerical simulations of the transient response of the combustion gases and wafer heating in thruster firings have been conducted with FLUENT under a multiphysics modelling that fully couples the gas and solid parts involved.The approach includes the gas-wafer and gas-polymer thermal exchange,burnback of the polymer with a simplified non-reacting gas pyrolysis model at its front,and a slip-model inside the nozzle portion to incorporate the effect of gas-surface and rarefaction onto the gas expansion.Besides,accurate characterization of thruster operation requires the inclusion of the receding front of the polymer and heat transfer in the moving gas-solid interfaces.The study stresses the improvement attained in thermal management by the inclusion of lateral micro-channels in the device.In particular,the temperature maps reveal the significant dependence of the thermal loss on the instantaneous surface of the reservoir wall exposed to the heat flux of hot gases.Specifically,the simulations stress the benefit of implementing such a pattern of micro-channels connecting the exit of the combustion reservoir with the nozzle.The results prove that hot gases flowing along the micro-channels exert a sealing action upon the heat flux at the reservoir wall and partly mitigate the overall thermal loss at the inner-wall vicinity during the burnback.The analysis shows that propellant decomposition rate is accelerated due to surface preheating and it suggests that a delay of the flame extinction into the reservoir is possible.The simulated operation of the thruster concept shows encouraging performance.