Bi-propellant thruster family for spacecraft propulsion

Abstract

In the past 20 years MBBDASA has developed, qualified and delivered to several customers two types of satellite propulsion thrusters (10 Nand 400 N). These thrusters have been successfully brought into operation and are working in 12 satellites (including GALILEO spaceprobe) without any difficulties. After this remarkable break-through in the satellite business (mainly telecommunication satellites) we started to concentrate internal efforts on the imorovement of the aoulied technolo- .I gies.A second generation of thrusters was decided in order to improve the performenace and the operation range for future application.In the frame of this work the family of the bi-propellant thrusters was enlarged. For high accuracy attitude control a 4 N thruster was developed and for more efficient apogee injection an increase of the 400 N performance level is in preparation. , ; he presentation will demonstrate the history of the 1st generation thrusters (swirl atomising injection system and three types of cooling: film-regenerative-radiative) and the excellent in-orbit operation. A second part will cover the latest status of development/qualification/application of the 2nd generation thrusters (swirl atomising injection system and two types of cooling: film-radiative).Details on the material selection, on the joining technology for the different materials and on the achieved performances will be presented. The development of the 2nd generation thrusters started with the 4 N thruster in the mid-80's with principle operation tests. After a few years this line was corrected to the 10 N thrusters which was the most demanding thrust level to be improved. Fig. 5 shows a foto of the 10 N Pt/Rh thruster in the qualified version. This thruster will be applied in the EUROPEAN scientific program CLUSTER for orbit and attitude correction. Parallel to the 10 N thruster the development of a 4 N thruster (Fig. 22) was restarted and shall be completed by a qualification in 1992/93. A third thrust level (400 N) is at the moment in preparation and shall complete the new enlarged 2nd generation family in 1993/1994. Finally the existing and intended projects applying the second genration thrusters will be discussed showing the advantages of using one single type high performing bi-propellant thructer technology.

Experimental Investigation on the New 100N Bipropellant Space Rocket Engine

“…The major international manufacturers include AMPAC-ISP, Aerojet, EADS, Northrop Grumman, etc. [1]. Typical products include: Aerojet's R-4D engine developed for the early Apollo moon landing project.…”