Abstract
Air-breathing electric propulsion has the potential to enable space missions at very low altitudes. This study introduces to a 0D hybrid formulation for describing the coupled intake and thruster physics of an air-breathing electric propulsion prototype. Model derivation is then used to formally derive main system’s key performance indicators and estimate the figure of merit for the design of rarefied flow air intakes. Achievable performance by conical intake shapes are defined and evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations. Influence of inlet flow variation is assessed by dedicated sensitivity analyses. The set of requirements and optimality conditions derived for the downstream plasma thruster suggest concept feasibility within an achievable performance range.
Highlights
In recent years, spaceflight at altitudes below 250 km is becoming an attractive option [1]
Air-breathing electric propulsion could eliminate the need for storing propellant onboard while providing effective drag compensation, and it has the potential to become an enabling technology for very low Earth orbits (VLEO) missions
To describe neutral particle dynamics in the intake and thruster control volumes, we developed a rarefied flow Monte Carlo routine, which neglects inter-particles collisions and uses the CLL reflection model to describe gas–surface interactions
Summary
Spaceflight at altitudes below 250 km is becoming an attractive option [1]. 250 km of altitude, both GOCE and SLATS experienced drag levels in the order of tens of milliNewtons and ran out of propellant after a few months, as opposed to typical lifetimes of LEO satellites in the 7–10 -year range. Air-breathing electric propulsion systems, often referred to as ABEP or Ram-EP, offer the potential to extend satellite lifetime in VLEO by providing effective drag compensation while reducing or eliminating the need to store propellant onboard [8]. All simulations are performed on a thruster in OFF condition and are limited to intake performance and flow properties available to thruster for discharge initialization They allow to quantify the requirement on thruster operation for providing full drag compensation, suggesting technological feasibility within a reasonable performance range.
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