Resonant and Ground Experimental Study on the Microwave Plasma Thruster

chemistry. Therefore, the application of EP for the attitude control and station keeping of satellite, the propulsion of deep space exploration craft allows to reduce substantially the mass of on-board propellant and the launching cost. The EP research is now receiving high interest everywhere. microwave generating subsystem, the propellant supplying subsystem and the resonator (the thruster). Its principle is that the magnetron of the microwave generating subsystem transfers electric energy into microwave energy at given frequency which is introduced into a resonant cavity. Microwave will resonate within the cavity when it is adjusted. When the propellant gas (N2, Ar, He, NH3 or H2) is put into the cavity and coupled with microwave energy at the maximal electric intensity place, it will be broken down to form free-floating plasma, which flows from nozzle with high speed to produce thrust. Its characteristic is high efficiency, simple power supply and without electrode ablation, its specific impulse is greater than arcjet. 2450MHz, have been developed. The microwave generating subsystem and resonator of lower power MPT, 70-200W, are coaxial. The resonator with TEM resonating mode is section of coaxial wave-guide, of which one end is shorted, another is semi-opened. The maximal electric intensity field is in the lumped capacity formed between the end surface of inner conductor, retracting in the cavity, and the semi-opened surface of outer conductor. It provides favorable condition for gas breakdown. The microwave generating system and resonator of middle power MPT, 500-1,000W, are wave-guide cavity. The resonator with TM011 resonating mode is cylinder wave-guide cavity, of which two end surface are shorted. The distribution of electromagnetic field is axial symmetry, its maximal electric intensity field locates on the axis and closes to the exit of nozzle, where the propellant gas is breakdown to form free floating plasma. The plasma is free from the wall of resonator, which reduces the energy loss arising from the heat conducting, the wall temperature almost have no limitation. The cavity is partitioned in two halves separated by a dialectic quartz plate. The propellant is swirl-injected tangentially in the nozzle side of the cavity (plasma chamber), which extends lifetime and working reliability of MPT. Compared, coaxial resonator has the characteristic of smaller structure, lighter weight, wider bandwidth of resonating frequency and more stable resonate state. microwave energy can heat propellant gas to produce thrust efficiently. According to the test method on the return loss of passive parts of microwave apparatus, this paper also makes experimental study on the resonating state of MPT cavity with scalar network analyzer operating under low signal. Purpose is to analyze its energy absorbing efficiency and resonant frequency band, research the matching of the cavity dimension, microwave coupling probe position and the isolate plate material within the cavity. The conclusion is helpful for the thruster design and improving the system efficiency. different propellant gases (Ar and He) have been fulfilled. The power, resonant pressure and mass flow rate have been measured and analyzed. Experiments show that MPT can start up reliably and work steadily. Keywords: microwave plasma thrustermicrowaveplasmaresonatorreturn loss