Direct thrust and plume divergence measurements of the IFM Nano Thruster
Abstract
The IFM Nano Thruster, which consists of a porous tungsten crown ion-emitter to provide thrust in the range of 10 μN to 1 mN at 2000-5000 s ISP, has been tested on a μN thrust balance that has previously been verified at the ESA Propulsion Laboratories. A comprehensive assessment of the thrust performance has been complemented by measurements of the plume divergence using a novel segmented collector setup that allows to assess the ion current distribution within a 2D-section of the plume in a high time resolution. From the plasma probe measurements, an upper bound of 0.93 for the thrust coefficient has been derived, while direct thrust measurements have shown a thrust coefficient between 0.8 and 0.9 over the entire thrust range. From the test results, a complete thruster performance map could be established linking emitter current and voltage with thrust and Isp.
- Publication:
-
Advances in Space Research
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.asr.2018.06.028
- Bibcode:
- 2018AdSpR..62.3398J
- Keywords:
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- Field Emission Electric Propulsion;
- Indium FEEP;
- Small satellites