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Life and operating range extension of the bpt-4000 qualification model hall thruster
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Randolph, Thomas M. Welander, Ben deGrys, Kristi Carpenter, Christian Manzella, David H. Hofer, Richard R. |
| Copyright Year | 2006 |
| Description | Following completion of the 5,600 hr qualification life test of the BPT-4000 4.5 kW Hall Thruster Propulsion System, NASA and Aerojet have undertaken efforts to extend the qualified operating range and lifetime of the thruster to support a wider range of NASA missions. The system was originally designed for orbit raising and stationkeeping applications on military and commercial geostationary satellites. As such, it was designed to operate over a range of power levels from 3 to 4.5 kW. Studies of robotic exploration applications have shown that the cost savings provided by utilizing commercial technology that can operate over a wider range of power levels provides significant mission benefits. The testing reported on here shows that the 4.5 kW thruster as designed has the capability to operate efficiently down to power levels as low as 1 kW. At the time of writing, the BPT-4000 qualification thruster and cathode have accumulated over 400 hr of operation between 1 to 2 kW with an additional 600 hr currently planned. The thruster has demonstrated no issues with longer duration operation at low power. |
| File Size | 579120 |
| Page Count | 12 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20060051789 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t3tt9kq44 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 2006-10-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Spacecraft Propulsion And Power Electric Propulsion Hall Thrusters Performance Tests Military Spacecraft Stationkeeping Cost Reduction Geosynchronous Orbits Robotics Synchronous Platforms Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
