Development and Flight Operation of a Miniature Ion Propulsion System

Abstract

This report presents ground tests and flight operation results for a miniature ion propulsion system for microsatellites to show the feasibility of ion thruster applications in small satellites. The propulsion system incorporated a 10-W-class microwave discharge ion thruster and consumer-product-based subcomponents. The low-power ion thruster realized a total power consumption of less than 30 W, which was compatible with 50-kg-class small satellites. A key part of the subcomponents was a xenon feed system including a high-pressure tank that complied with the High Pressure Gas Safety Act, had high safety, and had good handling ability. The total mass and volume of the flight model were 8.10 kg and with 0.89 kg of xenon propellant. The thruster performance determined by the ground tests was a thrust of , a specific impulse of 786–699 s at a mass flow rate of , and total power consumption of 28.1–29.8 W. The miniature ion propulsion system was installed on a Hodoyoshi-4 microsatellite (66 kg mass), which was launched to low Earth orbit. The ion thruster operation was conducted in orbit, and the measured ion beam current agreed well with the values obtained from ground tests.