AMC-1 (GE-1) Arcjets at 12-Plus Years On-Orbit

Lichtin, D. A.; Chilelli, Nicholas V.; Henderson, John; Rauscher, R.; Bailey, John; Roberts, Claire; Zube, Dieter M.; Fisher, Jack

doi:10.2514/6.2009-5364

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…They had their first flight qualification on the AT&T Telstar-4 satellite for North-South-Station-Keeping (NSSK) in 1993 (Smith et al , 1993). By now there are more than 100 thrusters of the MR-510 class in orbit used for NSSK aboard of significantly more than 30 Lockheed-Martin A2100 TM satellites (Lichtin et al , 2009), (Zube et al ). The advantages of these arcjets are their adequate specific impulse of 600 s and a thrust of 250 mN at a power of 2 kW and especially their joint use of the hydrazine feed and storage system together with that for the dual mode chemical main thrusters.…”

Section: Overview Of Arcjet Power Classesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was with the intention of longer satellite life time of up to 12 years or lower satellite wet mass to fit to available launchers (Kornfeld et al , 2003a, 2003b). Already succeeded commercial application are the MR-510 arcjets of Aerojet used for NSSK on Lockheed-Martin A2100 satellites (Lichtin et al , 2009) with a demonstrated total impulse of more than 1.4 MNs in space. These thrusters are typically fired once a week when the power is deallocated from the communication payloads to the propulsion system for a manoeuvre of 30-90 min.…”

Section: Potentials and Mission Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Overview of thermal arcjet thruster development

Wollenhaupt¹,

Le²,

Herdrich³

2018

AEAT

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Purpose This paper aims to provide an overview of current and historical arcjet development. The reviewed arcjets are considered with respect to both design and thruster relevant parameters. Correspondingly, the paper enables the identification of adequate design criteria and of the probable thruster parameters. Design/methodology/approach The approach consists of a database for thruster relevant parameters in conjunction with relevant operational requirements (such as type of propellant) and specific design criteria (such as e.g. propellant injection systems). Findings The synopsis of both operational parameter and respectively assigned design allows for the derivation of development approaches for arcjets under given high level requirements such as power regime. Research limitations/implications The paper is a general review. However, its strength is in the synthesis of the arcjet classification, the functional evidence of design criteria and the application scenario. Practical implications Not only basic but also specific design criteria are analyzed and evaluated leading to a recommendation feature of the paper with respect to the overall design of adequate arcjets. Social implications Within the scope of the Clean Space initiative, new applications and scenarios from the operation of arcjets arise enabling EOL phases of spacecraft that fulfill respective levels of debris mitigation and, in addition, the requirements concerning the adequately adapted re-entry of spacecrafts that are at end of life. Originality/value The paper is a general review. However, its strength is in the synthesis of the arcjet classification, the functional evidence of design criteria and the application scenario.

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Section: Overview Of Arcjet Power Classesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Potentials and Mission Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of thermal arcjet thruster development

Wollenhaupt¹,

Le²,

Herdrich³

2018

AEAT

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“…Then by the ideal critical flow equation, the portions of throat area occupied by the hot and cool gases are (8000/2000) 1/2 = 2:1. For the total throat area of 0.385 mm 2 , that occupied by the hot and cool gases are 0.257 and 0.128 mm 2 , respectively. This gives flow rates of 36.0 mg/s each, or a total flow rate of 72.0 mg/s.…”

Section: Non-uniformity Of Upstream Gas Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms for non-ideal flow in low-power arc-heated supersonic nozzles

Pan

Meng

et al. 2015

Acta Mech. Sin.

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The flow in a low-powered arc gas heater combined with a supersonic nozzle of throat diameter less than 1 mm is quite complicated and difficult to describe in quantitative detail. Experiments on arc-heated supersonic jet thrusters of monatomic gases argon and helium have been carried out and their performance measured. The flow characteristics are analyzed with the help of numerical simulation. Results show that the viscous effect is the most important factor causing the large difference between ideal and real performance. A large outer section of the exit flow is slowmoving. This is especially pronounced in helium, where 70 % of the exit area of the nozzle might be in subsonic flow. Friction forces can be much larger than the net thrust, reaching several times higher in helium, resulting in very low efficiencies. Other factors causing the differences between ideal and real flow include: complex flow in the throat region, electric arc extending to the nozzle expansion section, heat transfer to the inlet gas and from the hot plasma, and environmental pressure in the vacuum chamber. It is recognized that the ordinary concepts of supersonic nozzle flow must be greatly modified when dealing with such complicated situations. The general concepts presented in this paper could be helpful in guiding the design and operation of this equipment.

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The Effects of Swirl on Low Power Arcjet Thruster Flowfield and Heat Transfer Characteristics

Zhang

Tang

2019

Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering

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AMC-1 (GE-1) Arcjets at 12-Plus Years On-Orbit

Cited by 8 publications

References 3 publications

Overview of thermal arcjet thruster development

Overview of thermal arcjet thruster development

Mechanisms for non-ideal flow in low-power arc-heated supersonic nozzles

The Effects of Swirl on Low Power Arcjet Thruster Flowfield and Heat Transfer Characteristics

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