The invention relates to an ion thruster, comprising: a chamber, a reservoir, comprising a solid propellant (PS), housed in the chamber and comprising a conductive jacket provided with an orifice; means for forming an ion-electron plasma in the chamber, which means are able to sublime the solid propellant in the reservoir, then to generate said plasma in the chamber from the sublimed propellant coming from the reservoir through the orifice; a means for extracting and accelerating the ions and electrons of the plasma out of the chamber, which means comprises at least two grids at one end (E) of the chamber; a radiofrequency AC voltage source for generating a radiofrequency signal comprised between the plasma frequencies of the ions and of the electrons, arranged in series with a capacitor and connected, by one of its outputs and via this capacitor, to one of the grids, with the other grid being connected to the other output of said voltage source;
said means for extracting and accelerating and said voltage source making it possible to form, at the output of the chamber, an ion-electron beam.

The dipole drive is a new propulsion system which uses ambient space plasma as propellant, thereby avoiding the need to carry any of its own. The dipole drive is constructed from two parallel screens, one charged positive, the other negative, creating an electric field between them with no significant field outside. Ambient solar wind protons entering the dipole drive field from the negative screen side are reflected out, with the angle of incidence equaling the angle of reflection, thereby providing lift if the screen is placed at an angle to the plasma wind. Protons entering from the positive side are accelerated out the negative screen, producing thrust. The dipole drive can achieve more than 3 mN/kWe in interplanetary space and better than 10 mN/kWe in Earth, Venus, Mars, or Jupiter orbit and offers potential as a means of achieving ultra-high velocities necessary for interstellar flight.

A pulsed metal plasma thruster (MPT) cube has a plurality of thrusters, each having a first cathode electrode and a trigger electrode separated from the first electrode by an insulator sufficient to support an initiation plasma, and a porous anode electrode positioned a separation distance from the face of all of the cathode electrodes. The cathode electrode can be either the inner electrode or the outer electrode. A power supply delivers a high voltage pulse to the trigger electrode with respect to the cathode electrode sufficient to initiate a plasma on the surface of the insulator. The plasma transfers between the anode electrode and cathode electrode of selected thrusters, thereby generating a pulse of thrust.

A neutralizer suitable for use in an ion engine comprises a halogen gas source and an electrode tube comprising an inlet opening connected to the halogen gas source for supplying a halogen gas provided by the halogen gas source into the electrode tube, a discharge space for generating a plasma from the halogen gas supplied into the electrode tube, and an outlet opening for discharging the plasma generated in the discharge space and free electrons from the electrode tube. An electron emitter is arranged in the discharge space of the electrode tube, which is at least partially made of tungsten, a tungsten alloy or a tungsten composite material containing at least one of iridium, rhenium, ruthenium, rhodium and osmium.

An intake system for an atmosphere-breathing electric thruster is disclosed, comprising an inlet for inflow of atmosphere particles, an outlet for coupling to the thruster for fueling collected atmosphere particles to the thruster, a collector arranged between the inlet and the outlet comprising multiple channels for allowing inflowing atmosphere particles to pass through the channels towards the outlet, the channels defining an inlet area and a length, wherein a position of at least part of the channels is adjustable to alter at least one of the inlet area and the length.

A propulsion system involving a boost feature comprising a stationary electrical conductor, the boost feature configured to couple with a combustion engine, the stationary electrical conductor disposed in a path of a moving high-velocity plasma of exhaust from the combustion engine, and the stationary electrical conductor electrically biased, whereby the moving high-velocity plasma is accelerated, and whereby propulsion is boosted.

A gas inlet (10), in particular for use in an ion thruster, comprises a housing (12) which is made of a gas-tight ceramics material and which is provided with a first gas feed channel (14) and a second gas feed channel (16) arranged downstream of the first gas feed channel (14). The gas inlet (10) further comprises an insert (18) which is arranged in the second gas feed channel (16) and is made of a porous ceramics material, wherein the geometry and pore structure of the insert (18) are such that the insert (18) forms a desired flow resistance for a gas stream flowing through the second gas feed channel (16) which is greater than a flow resistance acting on a gas stream flowing through the first gas feed channel (14), and wherein a ratio of a length (11) of the first gas feed channel (14) to a length (13) of the insert (18) is at least 1:2.

A pulsed metal plasma thruster (MPT) cube has a plurality of thrusters, each having a first cathode electrode and a trigger electrode separated from the first electrode by an insulator sufficient to support an initiation plasma, and a porous anode electrode positioned a separation distance from the face of all of the cathode electrodes. The cathode electrode can be either the inner electrode or the outer electrode. A power supply delivers a high voltage pulse to the trigger electrode with respect to the cathode electrode sufficient to initiate a plasma on the surface of the insulator. The plasma transfers between the anode electrode and cathode electrode of selected thrusters, thereby generating a pulse of thrust.

Various examples related to a deployable gridded ion thruster are described. A deployable gridded ion thruster can include: a thruster body including an ion generating unit; and an expandable discharge chamber configured to expand from a stored configuration to a deployed configuration. The expandable discharge chamber can include a chamber wall having a first geometric shape compressed within the thruster body when in the stored configuration and a second geometric shape expanded outward from the thruster body when in the deployed configuration. Also described herein are methods of operation for a deployable gridded ion thruster.

A Fiber-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster (FPPT) utilizes a motor to feed PTFE fiber to its discharge region, enabling high PPT propellant throughput and variable exposed fuel area. A highly parallel ceramic capacitor bank lowers system specific mass. Impulse bits (I-bits) from 0.057-0.241 mN-s have been measured on a thrust stand with a specific impulse (Isp) of 900-2400 s, representing an enhancement from state-of-the-art PPT technology. A 1U (10 cm10 cm10 cm, or 1 liter) volume FPPT thruster package will provide 2900-7700 N-s total impulse, enabling 0.6-1.6 km/s delta-V for a 5 kg CubeSat. A 1U design variation with 590 g propellant enables as much as 10,000 N-s and a delta-V of 2 km/s for a 5 kg CubeSat. Increasing the form factor to 2U increases propellant mass to 1.4 kg and delta-V to 10.7 km/s for an 8 kg CubeSat.