The PEGASES thruster concept is to use an ion-ion plasma as a source of positive and negative ions which are then alternately accelerated using biased grids to provide thrust. The ion beams are expected to recombine in the downstream space. The performance of the thruster, such as power and mass efficiencies are mapped for the operating pressure-power-magnetic field parameter window. In addition, the positive ion beam is measured and provides an estimate of the thrust and specific impulse. Preliminary results with a continuous acceleration show that at a pressure of 7 mTorr in Argon and a power of 200 W the thrust is estimated to 176 mN for an acceleration potential of 80 V.
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