Proposed On-Orbit Demonstration of an Advanced Pulsed-Plasma Thruster for Small Satellite Applications.

摘要

The USAF Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Electric Propulsion Group is developing an Advanced pulsed-plasma thruster (PPT) technology demonstration for small satellites. The initial flight opportunity was on MightySat 11.2 - a satellite bus specifically designed to advance AFRL-developed technologies and serve as a risk reduction mission for systems required for TechSat 21. This experiment will demonstrate a high performance PPT, making it a viable thruster for various applications such as orbit raising and initiating and maintaining clusters of small satellites. The experiment will also be the first flight of a new micro-propulsion thruster - a miniaturized version of the PPT, known as the micro-PPT (%-PPT). The u-PPT is ideal for very precise attitude control and pointing, formation flying, and for primary propulsion on microsatellites. A novel on-board diagnostic package will be used to assess the contamination of optical and thermal control surfaces as a result of firing the PPTs. Ground- based observations will also be conducted to assess the on-orbit performance and possible communication impacts of the thruster firings.