Development of the Miniature Ion Propulsion System for 50 kg Small Spacecraft

Koizumi, Hiroyuki; Komurasaki, Kimiya; Arakawa, Yoshihiro

doi:10.2514/6.2012-3949

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The components and structure of I-COUPS are based on the miniature ion propulsion system: MIPS [5][6][7] , which was developed for the 60 kg, LEO-satellite HODOYOSHI-4 [8][9][10] . Difference from the MIPS is the addition of CTU whose gas is extracted from the xenon GMU.…”

Section: I-coupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Flight Operations of the Miniature Propulsion System Installed on Small Space Probe: PROCYON

Koizumi

Kawahara

Yaginuma

et al. 2016

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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Initial flight operations of the miniature propulsion system I-COUPS (Ion Thruster and COld-gas Thruster Unified Propulsion System) are presented with problems found in space and its countermeasures for them. The I-COUPS was developed by the University of Tokyo and installed on a 70 kg space probe, PROCYON as main propulsion system to verify propulsive capability of the first micropropulsion in deep space. The PROCYON was successfully launched on December 3rd, 2014 and inserted into an orbit around the Sun. The PROYON project team started flight operation on the interplanetary orbit. Up to today, the cold-gas thrusters have successfully conducted unloading maneuvers since the launch. The ion thruster overcame several problems and achieved 223 hours operation with the averaged thrust of 346 μN. The I-COUPS will become the first electric propulsion and reaction control system operated on a small space probe (<100 kg) on an interplanetary orbit.

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Section: I-coupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Flight Operations of the Miniature Propulsion System Installed on Small Space Probe: PROCYON

Koizumi

Kawahara

Yaginuma

et al. 2016

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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“…By using the ion beam source and the neutralizer, a miniature ion propulsion system (MIPS) was developed by the University of Tokyo in collaboration with the Next Generation Space System Technology Research Association (NESTRA) in Japan. The specifications of the MIPS engineering model is evaluated at the weight of 8.1 kg (dry: 7.1 kg), volume of 39 cm × 26 cm × 15 cm, power consumption of 39 W and thrust of 300 N with specific impulse of 1200 s. 6 The MIPS is installed on a 50 kg-class spacecraft, HODOYOSHI-4, which was developed under the Japanese government funded project, "New Paradigm of Space Development and Utilization by Nano-satellite", and was launched by RS-20 rocket (Dnepr Launch Vehicle) from Yasny Launch Base, Russia, on June 19, 2014 at 23:11:11 Moscow time (19:11:11 UTC) ‡ ‡ . The MIPS will be the world's first ion thruster system operated in space for 50 kg-class nano-satellites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Validation Study of a 3D PIC Model for a Miniature Microwave Discharge Ion Thruster

Takao¹,

Eriguchi

Ono

et al. 2014

50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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The effect of the plasma current at low powers (< 1 W) has been investigated and numerical results have been compared with experimental data to validate a three dimensional particle model for a visualized miniature microwave discharge ion thruster. The numerical model is composed of a particle-in-cell simulation with a Monte Carlo collision algorithm for the kinetics of charged particles, a finite-difference time-domain method for the electromagnetic fields of 4.2-GHz microwaves, and a finite element analysis for the magnetostatic fields of permanent magnets. The simulations with and without the feedback of the plasma current have been conducted and the differences in the distributions of plasma parameters are found to be negligible. The distribution of Xe metastable (1s5) obtained from the simulation is in a qualitative agreement with that from an experimental measurement. Nomenclature B= magnetic field E = electric field f = microwave frequency jp = plasma current density m = mass n = number density Pabs = power absorbed in the plasma q = charge Te = electron temperature t = time v = velocity ε0 = vacuum permittivity μ0 = vacuum permeability ρ = charge density = electrostatic potential

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“…1) To satisfy such requirements, a miniature ion propulsion system (MIPS) was developed by the University of Tokyo. [2][3][4] The MIPS employs electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) discharges with ring-shaped permanent magnets for its ion source and neutralizer. [5][6][7] The FM specifications of the MIPS are evaluated at the weight of 8.1-8.6 kg (dry: 7.2 kg), volume of 34×26×16 cm 3 , power consumption of 27-34 W and thrust of 210-300 N with specific impulse of 740-1100 s. The MIPS was installed on a 50 kg-class spacecraft, HODOYOSHI-4, which was launched on June 19, 2014, and was operated successfully in space on October 28.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Electron Extraction from a Microwave Discharge Neutralizer for a Miniature Ion Propulsion System

Takao

Koizumi

Kasagi

et al. 2016

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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To investigate electron extraction through the orifices of a microwave discharge neutralizer, three-dimensional particle simulations have been conducted. The numerical model is composed of a particle-in-cell simulation with a Monte Carlo collision algorithm for the kinetics of charged particles, a nite-difference time-domain method for the electromagnetic fields of 4.2-GHz microwaves, and a finite element analysis for the magnetostatic fields of permanent magnets. The distribution of the current density on the orifice plate obtained from the numerical model is in a reasonable agreement with the measurement result in an experiment. Moreover, the numerical results have indicated that the electrostatic field of the plasma has a dominant influence on the electron extraction although the electrostatic field produces the opposite force of extraction from the bulk plasma toward the orifice plate. The combination of the sheath potential barrier and the magnetostatic field yields the electron trajectories of extraction.

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Development of the Miniature Ion Propulsion System for 50 kg Small Spacecraft

Cited by 7 publications

References 8 publications

Initial Flight Operations of the Miniature Propulsion System Installed on Small Space Probe: PROCYON

Initial Flight Operations of the Miniature Propulsion System Installed on Small Space Probe: PROCYON

A Validation Study of a 3D PIC Model for a Miniature Microwave Discharge Ion Thruster

Investigation of Electron Extraction from a Microwave Discharge Neutralizer for a Miniature Ion Propulsion System

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