The invention relates to a method (100) for controlling an ion thruster, the ion thruster comprising an emission electrode, an extraction electrode and a conductive liquid which is deposited on the emission electrode, the ion thruster being suitable for emitting an ion beam when an electric field is applied to the conductive liquid, the ion beam being suitable for providing thrust to the thruster, the thrust depending on an emission current lem and an ion emission speed, characterised in that the method comprises the following steps: - adjusting (102) the emission current to a setpoint value lc by applying a threshold emission potential Vthresh to the emission electrode by means of a current generator; and - when the setpoint value lc of the emission current is reached, adjusting (104) the emission speed by applying an extraction potential Vext to the extraction electrode by means of a voltage generator in order to bring the emission potential Vem to a predetermined value Vempr = Vthresh + Vext. The invention also relates to an ion thruster system (1) which is suitable for implementing the method (100) according to the invention.
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机译：本发明涉及一种用于控制离子推进器的方法（100），该离子推进器包括发射电极，引出电极和沉积在该发射电极上的导电液体，该离子推进器适于在离子束发射时产生离子束。电场施加到导电液体上，离子束适合向推力器提供推力，推力取决于发射电流 l em 和离子发射速度，其特征在于，该方法包括以下步骤：-通过施加阈值发射电势V thresh <，将发射电流调节（102）为设定值 l c 通过电流发生器到达发射电极; --当达到发射电流的设定值 l c 时，通过施加提取电位V ext 来调节（104）发射速度通过电压发生器将其连接到引出电极，以使发射电势V em 达到预定值V empr = V thresh + V ext 。本发明还涉及一种适于实施根据本发明的方法（100）的离子推进器系统（1）。
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