Micro-electric propulsion (EP) solutions for small satellite missions

The advent of microelectronics and space technology has enabled the design and testing of many micro-electric propulsion technologies. The University of Surrey has been designing and testing 3 types of thrusters for various space missions, many of which will soon be tested in orbit: The Helicon Double Layer Thruster is an RF thruster that does not use any grids and has been tested on a thrust balance at Surrey, producing thrust of 2–5 mN an Isp of 400s at 500W The Hollow Cathode Thruster is a Cathode used as an electrothermal thruster for microsatellite and has been tested to produce thrust at 2 mN, Isp of 150s at 100W The Pulsed Plasma Thruster is a micro thruster for nanosatellites, to be flown on the STRanD-1 nanosatellite mission in 2011 Micro (EP) solutions open a whole new dimension in small satellite missions, enabling new missions for space exploration, low altitude earth observation and many others. The paper will address the key micro-EP technologies and highlight some new space mission concepts which use EP technologies.