Overview on Testing Infrastructures and Diagnostic Tools for HEMPT based Ion Propulsion Systems

In the framework of DLR’s HEMPTIS program Thales Electron Devices GmbH (TEDG) develops and qualifies an ion propulsion system bas ed on the High Efficiency Multistage Plasma Thruster HEMPT technology, and produces the respective flight hardware for the SGEO Hispasat AG1 mission. In order to verify the HEMPT system, including its components, versus the mission requirements different testing infrastructures with particular diagnostic tools are used. Short term ac ceptance and verification test campaigns, performance and thermal vacuum characterization on thruster, thruster module (HTM) and thruster assembly (HTA) level are performed in the ULAN test facility, located at TEDG Ulm. Upgrading is in progress for End-to-End test of Flight Models (FM) on HTM and HTA level. The ULAN includes a large vacuum facility with a volume of 22 m 3 equipped with a combined turbo molecular and a cryogenic pumping system which provides a pumping speed for Xenon of more than 70,000 l/s and a vacuum with the base pressure <10 -7 mbar.