Plasma parameters and discharge characteristics of lab-based krypton-propelled miniaturized Hall thruster

Abstract

The lowered costs for operational deployment in space, as well as the ability to implement sophisticated peripherals with integrated systems on-board satellites in orbit has catalysed the recently seen rapid growth in space industry. This growth has been driven mainly by the proliferation of miniaturized space systems, which include satellites, rockets and other payloads, with expanded our ability to acquire and analyse data in orbit. Of great interest to the community working on the continued miniaturization of satellites and other components for space is the provision of micro-propulsion modules for in-orbit manoeuvres. In this work, we report performance parameters of lab-based Kr propelled miniaturized Hall effect plasma thrusters developed at SPC-S, which include thrust, efficiencies, and specific impulse, made possible through a bimodal quadfilar suspended thrust measurement system. Additionally, the plume profiles are studied through a spatially actuated Faraday probe system. Finally, non-invasive plasma diagnostics through analysis of discharge current oscillations as well as optical emission spectroscopy is presented to give a holistic overview of possible diagnostic methods for real-time measurements pertaining to the evaluation of plasma thruster systems. This work explicitly evaluates the effect of the propellant flow rate on the data obtained through the aforementioned diagnostic methods.