Qualification status of high power ion thruster and flow control unit

摘要

Using high power space transportation systems equipped with electric propulsion requires development and qualification of electric thrusters with power equal to tens of kW. The optimal specific impulse of such systems designed for deep space missions should be very high (6000 ... 8000 s). Elements for electric propulsion systems are developing at Keldysh Research Center (KeRC). This paper presents qualification status of IT-500 35-kW ion thruster and FCU-500 flow control unit. 2000-hours lifetime test of the IT-500 and FCU-500 was performed as a part of qualification. The ion thruster accomplished 2018 h of operation for the most part at input power of 17,8 kW, utilized 40 kg of xenon. Magnetic field and ion optics improvement and graphite grids development status are also described in this paper.