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Experimental Validation of a 1-Newton Hydrogen Peroxide Thruster

2019; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Volume: 36; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2514/1.b37418

1533-3876

Charles N. Ryan, Ewan Fonda-Marsland, G.T. Roberts, Alan Lear, Edward A. Fletcher, C. Lee Giles, Matthew J. Palmer, David Gibbon,

Plasma Diagnostics and Applications

The evolution of a 1 N monopropellant thruster using 87.5% concentration hydrogen peroxide is reported. The design of the thruster is described, along with the testing of the catalyst material. Thruster firings were completed at sea-level atmospheric conditions and in vacuum, with a vacuum specific impulse of 160 s and a characteristic velocity efficiency of greater than 95% achieved. The final thruster design demonstrated good overall performance, with initial lifetime testing suggesting that the catalyst offers good robustness. A case study suggests that the thruster would provide a level of performance comparable to that of a hydrazine-based propulsion system for a high-velocity-change, volume-constrained low-Earth-orbit spacecraft mission, but at lower cost.