Analysis of ionization in air-breathing plasma thruster

Abstract

The primary focus of this work is to study the ionization inside an air-breathing plasma thruster (ABPT) in low earth orbit applications. For this high-speed technology to work, a high degree of ionization needs to be achieved. This paper focuses on plasma chemistry simulation for air in low earth orbits (80–110 km) to explore the possibility of high ionization of the incoming air. The results of plasma chemistry simulation showed the variation of ionization degree and species densities concerning the mean input energy that contributed to the chemical reactions. This research is essential to understand ionization processes to develop a low earth orbit ABPT design. Our results have indicated the possibility of building ABPT without an external neutralizer. The neutralization is created by extracting negative and positive ions to obtain neutralization, thereby eliminating existing design complexity.