The KM-10 Hall-effect thruster of 10-kW power class that is being developed at Keldysh Research Center has passed ground tests, including shortened wear tests and broad operation-parameter variations. According to the test results, the KM-10 thruster complies with foreign analogues in a wide range of operating characteristics. It provides a thrust of similar to 515 mN, a specific impulse of 2550 s (with an efficiency of 62%), and a predicted lifetime of more than 10 000 h at a power of similar to 10.5 kW. The tests of a cluster assembly of four KM-10 thrusters with a total power of similar to 42 kW showed a negligible mutual influence of the thrusters on the total characteristics during their simultaneous operation. The mission performance of KM-10 thrusters in space vehicles of various purposes is evaluated in comparison with alternative options of propulsion systems based on liquid-fuel rocket engines and electric-propulsion systems with ion thrusters. The paper also presents promising areas of the application of the KM-10 thrusters (in a cluster as well) for in-space transportation, including the delivery of heavy-class commercial spacecraft to a geostationary orbit, payloads to a circumlunar orbit, and interplanetary spacecraft to Mars, as well as for the orbit correction of a small-sized space station in a low Earth orbit.
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