Introduction to Plasma Based Propulsion System: Hall Thrusters

Abstract

Technically, there are two types of propulsion systems namely chemical and electric depending on the sources of the fuel. Electrostatic thrusters are used for launching small satellites in low earth orbit which are capable to provide thrust for long time intervals. These thrusters consume less fuel compared to chemical propulsion systems. Therefore for the cost reduction interests, space scientists are interested to develop thrusters based on electric propulsion technology. This chapter is intended to serve as a general overview of the technology of electric propulsion (EP) and its applications. Plasma based electric propulsion technology used for space missions with regard to the spacecraft station keeping, rephrasing and orbit topping applications. Typical thrusters have a lifespan of 10,000 h and produce thrust of 0.1–1 N. These devices have E→×B→ configurations which is used to confine electrons, increasing the electron residence time and allowing more ionization in the channel. Almost 2500 satellites have been launched into orbit till 2020. For example, the ESA SMART-1 mission (Small Mission for Advanced Research in Technology) used a Hall thruster to escape Earth orbit and reach the moon with a small satellite that weighed 367 kg. These satellites carrying small Hall thrusters for orbital corrections in space as thrust is needed to compensate for various ambient forces including atmospheric drag and radiation pressure. The chapter outlines the electric propulsion thruster systems and technologies and their shortcomings. Moreover, the current status of potential research to improve the electric propulsion systems for small satellite has been discussed.