Pulsed plasma thruster of the erosion type for a geostationary artificial Earth satellite

Abstract Analysis is made for the possibility of erosion pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) application while solving the task of maintaining the point sustaining a long-operating geostationary artificial Earth satellite. The concept of an erosion PPT with a pulse energy of 200–300 J, designed for holding the attitude of a satellite of 500 kg mass over 10 years is presented. The thruster, with a lifetime of 2–3 × 10 7 pulses, produces a total pulse of 2.5 × 10 5 Ns, consuming up to 13 kg of propellant (Teflon). Estimations have shown that the thruster total mass will not exceed 50–60 kg for the flying PPT. Even in the case of a two-fold redundancy the thruster set mass should comprise no more than 0.20-0.25 of the satellite mass. The prospect of a rail design for the PPT discharge chamber with lateral propellant feeding is experimentally examined.