Defining the Optimal Requirements for the Liquid Indium Microelectric Propulsion System

Abstract

Recent technology advancements in microelectric propulsion will enable the next generation of small spacecraft to perform trajectory and attitude maneuvers with significant requirements, provide thrust over long mission durations, and replace reaction wheels for attitude control. These advancements will open up the class of mission architectures achievable by small spacecraft to include formation flying, proximity operations, and precision pointing missions in both low Earth orbit and interplanetary destinations. The goal of this study is to establish the optimal performance parameters for future microelectric propulsion technology that are applicable to a broad range of flight demonstration platforms (for example, dedicated 3- to 12-unit CubeSats to evolved expendable launch vehicle secondary payload adaptor-class spacecraft) for a variety of applications, including low Earth orbit and Earth escape orbit transfers, travel to interplanetary destinations, hover and drag makeup missions, and performing reaction-wheel-free attitude control. An integrated systems-level model for propulsion, spacecraft (power, data, telecommunication, thermal management), and orbit and attitude maneuvers is developed to support solution space exploration. Microelectric propulsion system performance parameters are derived that maximize the performance capability subject to realistic system-level constraints in the context of upcoming mission opportunities where microelectric propulsion is enabling or advantageous relative to other technologies.