Study of a side-fed, tongue-flared configured pulsed plasma thruster

The demand for low cost propulsion systems for the next generation of satellites and the development of miniature CubeSat concept have renewed interest in the Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT). PPT is a type of electric propulsion that makes use of transient plasma to accelerate ablated solid fuel propellent to high speed. Hence, the resultant impulse is highly dependent on the plasma discharge parameters. A side-fed, tongue-flared configuration PPT operated at a low energy range of 2 J was able to deliver an impulse bit of 25±2 µNs. The plasma discharge species were identified from optical emission spectroscopy while the electron temperature and density were determined using the triple Langmuir probe method.