Characterization Test of the 12.5-kW Advanced Electric Propulsion System Engineering Test Unit Hall Thruster

摘要

This work presents a summary of the detailed characterization test of the 12.5 kW Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) Engineering Test Unit 2 (ETU-2) thruster produced by Aerojet Rocketdyne. This test campaign had two major goals: to assess the risk of design compliance with thruster requirements and provide a comparison to the previously-tested NASA Hall Effect Rocket with Magnet Shielding (HERMeS) Technology Demonstration Units (TDUs) from which the AEPS ETU design was derived. Assessments of ETU-2 performance and stability were conducted for discharge powers of 6.25 to 13.1 kW, magnetic field strengths between 75% and 125% of nominal, cathode flow fractions between 5% and 10%, and nominal and reversed magnetic field polarities. The results from each of these test segments indicate that ETU-2 performance meets or exceeds all the AEPS thruster performance requirements and matches the values and trends previously measured with the HERMeS TDUs. In addition, similar to the HERMeS TDUs, ETU-2 performance showed minimal sensitivity to both electrical and pressure facility effects. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that the AEPS design is successfully replicating the performance of the HERMeS TDUs and has high probability of compliance with the performance requirements as the design progresses to its Critical Design Review.