Session
Session II: Advanced Concepts I
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
A propulsion system gives CubeSats the capacity to change their orbit on their own, and in terms of achieving a large delta-V, electric propulsion has an advantage. Installing the electric propulsion on CubeSats has difficulties such as a high-pressure gas system, electrical components, and the drop of the efficiency because of the miniaturization. To clear these problems, the water ion thruster is proposed as a candidate for the CubeSats’ electric propulsion. Water has an absolute advantage of applying for CubeSats’ propulsion system in the point of safety. In addition, water is a liquid phase at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and it makes easy to store and handle it. The thrust measurement and the improvement of the thruster based on experiments were conducted. The thrust and the specific impulse were estimated as 226 ± 19 μN and 384 ± 33 s at the highest performance point with 36.5 W power consumption of all system. It achieved a delta-V of 504 ± 43 m/s with the 1 kg of propellant for an 8 kg and 6U CubeSat.
Miniature Water Ion Thruster; 1 km/s-class Delta-V for a 6U CubeSat
Utah State University, Logan, UT
A propulsion system gives CubeSats the capacity to change their orbit on their own, and in terms of achieving a large delta-V, electric propulsion has an advantage. Installing the electric propulsion on CubeSats has difficulties such as a high-pressure gas system, electrical components, and the drop of the efficiency because of the miniaturization. To clear these problems, the water ion thruster is proposed as a candidate for the CubeSats’ electric propulsion. Water has an absolute advantage of applying for CubeSats’ propulsion system in the point of safety. In addition, water is a liquid phase at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and it makes easy to store and handle it. The thrust measurement and the improvement of the thruster based on experiments were conducted. The thrust and the specific impulse were estimated as 226 ± 19 μN and 384 ± 33 s at the highest performance point with 36.5 W power consumption of all system. It achieved a delta-V of 504 ± 43 m/s with the 1 kg of propellant for an 8 kg and 6U CubeSat.
