Field emission electric propulsion power conditioning unit design concept, volume 2

The requirements for a power conditioning unit (PCU) for a field emission thruster system are discussed. Specifically, the emitter power supply system, thermal control and structural aspects, and the frozen PCU architecture are addressed. In addition, a PCU development program is presented. Results indicate that inverters can be operated at 50 KHz and that a single transformer is sufficient to provide beam power. An optical fiber link between the central control unit and the thruster dedicated power module is feasible and allows fast binary exchange between units. Weight improvement with respect to a classical solution is nearly 50%.