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Design of an intake and a thruster for an atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system

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Abstract

Challenging space missions include those at very low altitudes, where the atmosphere is the source of aerodynamic drag on the spacecraft, that finally defines the mission’s lifetime, unless a way to compensate for it is provided. This environment is named Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) and it is defined for \(h<{450}{\mathrm{km}}\). In addition to the spacecraft’s aerodynamic design, to extend the lifetime of such missions, an efficient propulsion system is required. One solution is Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP), in which the propulsion system collects the atmospheric particles to be used as propellant for an electric thruster. The system could remove the requirement of carrying propellant on-board, and could also be applied to any planetary body with atmosphere, enabling new missions at low altitude ranges for longer missions’ duration. One of the objectives of the H2020 DISCOVERER project, is the development of an intake and an electrode-less plasma thruster for an ABEP system. This article describes the characteristics of intake design and the respective final designs based on simulations, providing collection efficiencies up to \(94\%\). Furthermore, the radio frequency (RF) Helicon-based plasma thruster (IPT) is hereby presented as well, while its performances are being evaluated, the IPT has been operated with single atmospheric species as propellant, and has highlighted very low input power requirement for operation at comparable mass flow rates \(P\sim {60}{\mathrm{w}}\).

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Abbreviations

ABEP:

Atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion

DSMC:

Direct simulation Monte Carlo

FMF:

Free molecular flow

GSI:

Gas-surface interaction

IPT:

RF Helicon-based plasma thruster

VLEO:

Very low earth orbit

SC:

Spacecraft

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Acknowledgements

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 737183. This reflects only the author’s view and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Swiss Plasma Center (SPC), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    F. Romano

  2. Institute of Space Systems (IRS), University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 70569, Germany

    F. Romano, G. Herdrich, Y.-A. Chan, S. Fasoulas & C. Traub

  3. The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    N. H. Crisp, P. C. E. Roberts, B. E. A. Holmes, S. Edmondson, S. Haigh, A. Macario-Rojas, V. T. A. Oiko, L. A. Sinpetru & K. Smith

  4. Elecnor Deimos Satellite Systems, C/ Francia 9, 13500, Puertollano, Spain

    J. Becedas & V. Sulliotti-Linner

  5. GomSpace AS, Langagervej 6, Aalborg East, 9220, Denmark

    M. Bisgaard, S. Christensen, V. Hanessian, T. Kauffman Jensen & J. Nielsen

  6. UPC-BarcelonaTECH, Colom 11, TR5, 08222, Terrassa, Spain

    D. García-Almiñana, S. Rodríguez-Donaire & M. Sureda

  7. Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK

    D. Kataria

  8. Euroconsult, 86 Boulevard de Sébastopol, 75003, Paris, France

    B. Belkouchi, A. Conte, S. Seminari & R. Villain

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  1. F. Romano
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  2. G. Herdrich
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  3. Y.-A. Chan
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  10. V. T. A. Oiko
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  20. S. Fasoulas
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Correspondence to F. Romano.

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Romano, F., Herdrich, G., Chan, YA. et al. Design of an intake and a thruster for an atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system. CEAS Space J 14, 707–715 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-022-00452-1

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