Home > Knowledge Base Authors: David Krejci, Federico Toller, Tony Schönherr, Lou Grimaud, Abhishek Goswami, Quirin Koch, Alexander Reissner, Laura Bettiol, Bernhard Seifert, Alexandra Bulit, Jose Gonzalez del Amo Published On: May 2024 Event: Space Propulsion Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, SP2024_076 Download PDF Abstract Since the first flight of a Field emission electric propulsion (FEEP) thruster in 2018, 190 heritage ENPULSION NANO systems, 18 higher power MICRO systems and 9 novel NANO R3/AR3 systems have been launched. All propulsion systems reported in this work are based on passively fed, Indium based liquid metal FEEP technology that was developed at AIT and later FOTEC, and in which thrust is generated through electrostatic acceleration of ions extracted from a liquid propellant. To achieve this, the liquified metal propellant is suspended in porous, sharp emitter features and biased to high voltage with respect to a counter electrode to induce a Taylor cone on top of the emitter feature. To increase thrust, multiple of these emission sites have been arranged in a characteristic crown shaped emitter geometry for the NANO thrusters, achieving thrust levels in the order of 350 μN. To increase thrust levels, 4 of these emitter crowns are operated in parallel in the MICRO thruster, allowing thrust levels at nominal 1mN. Depending on emitter and extractor voltage settings, propulsion systems can be operated in a specific impulse range from approx. 1000s to beyond 4000s. DOWNLOAD PDF Thank you for your interest in ENPULSION’s products and services! As a global market leader in electric propulsion for nano- and microsatellites, we offer you a broad range of fully integrated electric propulsion systems, as well as simulator and emulator products, and support and services to guide you from first conceptual steps to spacecraft design, integration, launch-preparation, as well as commissioning and operations, all the way to end-of life de-orbiting of your spacecraft – our expert teams are always at your side. Exclusive ENPULSION data-room If you are interested to gain access to the next layer of technical information and in-depth knowledge of our products and technology, please contact us. In the ENPULSION data-room you can find product-specific user manuals, in-depth technical guides and applicable documents, containing valuable information on handling and shipping requirements, as well as everything you need to know to get the best performance and utility out of your ENPULSION products.
