Development of Electric and Chemical Microthrusters

Abstract

The increasing application of microsatellites (from 10 kg up to 100 kg) as well as CubeSats for a rising number of various missions demands the development of miniaturized propulsion systems. Fotec and The University of Applied Sciences at Wiener Neustadt is developing a number of micropropulsion technologies including both electric and chemical thrusters targeting high performance at small scales. Our electric propulsion developments include a series of FEEP (field emission electric propulsion) thrusters, of which the thrust ranges fromμN to mN level. The thrusters are highly integrated into clusters of indium liquid-metal-ion sources that can provide ultralow thrust noise and long-term stability. We are also developing a micro PPT thruster that enables pointing capabilities for CubeSats. For chemical thrusters, we are developing novel micromonopropellant thrusters with several hundred mN as well as a 1–3 N bipropellant microrocket engine using green propellants and high specific impulse performance. This paper will give an overview of our micropropulsion developments at Fotec, highlighting performance as well as possible applications.