Characterisation of a small ring-cusp gridded ion engine using alternative

Abstract

Xenon is the preferred propellant for electric propulsion thrusters, providing high thruster efficiency and long life. However, xenon is extremely expensive and has limited availability, which could impose serious constraints on the use of electric propulsion in some future missions. This report presents the results of the experimental characterization of a small ring-cusp discharge chamber using xenon (as baseline), krypton and a 1:4 Xe/Kr mixture.
These results represent the worst-case scenario for alternative propellants, but it allows the identification of possible modifications (e.g. cathode geometry and ion optics geometry) that could reduce the gap between xenon and the selected alternative propellants.

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