Session
Technical Session VIII: University Student Scholarship Competition
Abstract
Electric propulsion devices are know for their high specific impulses, which makes them very appealing to space mission requiring ultimate utilization of the limited resources on board the spacecraft. Advances in microelectronics have allowed increased functionality while reducing the sizes of the spacecraft. However this has not been entirely true for propulsion units. Colloid Micro-Thruster held the promise for microand nanosatellite propulsion application because of their size, low cost, integrated package, high efficiency, and custom configurability to fit a specific application. This paper outlines the renewed research efforts on Colloid Thruster, in an attempt to understand the underlying principles and to uncover its true potential. A one-nozzle and a IOO-nozzle prototype have been built and tested. A flight thruster subsystem is under development for proof-of-concept flight testing on board a 15-kg university nanosatellite project called Emerald.
Progress On Colloid Micro-Thruster Research and Flight Testing
Electric propulsion devices are know for their high specific impulses, which makes them very appealing to space mission requiring ultimate utilization of the limited resources on board the spacecraft. Advances in microelectronics have allowed increased functionality while reducing the sizes of the spacecraft. However this has not been entirely true for propulsion units. Colloid Micro-Thruster held the promise for microand nanosatellite propulsion application because of their size, low cost, integrated package, high efficiency, and custom configurability to fit a specific application. This paper outlines the renewed research efforts on Colloid Thruster, in an attempt to understand the underlying principles and to uncover its true potential. A one-nozzle and a IOO-nozzle prototype have been built and tested. A flight thruster subsystem is under development for proof-of-concept flight testing on board a 15-kg university nanosatellite project called Emerald.
