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An ion thruster, ion drive, or ion engine is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. An ion thruster creates a cloud of positive ions from a neutral gas by ionizing it to extract some electrons from its atoms. The ions are then accelerated using electricity to create thrust.
The XIPS-25, or 25-cm Xenon Ion Propulsion System, is a gridded ion thruster manufactured by L-3 Communications. XIPS-25 engine is used on Boeing 702 class satellites for station-keeping as well as orbit-raising.
The gridded ion thruster is a common design for ion thrusters, a highly efficient low-thrust spacecraft propulsion method running on electrical power by using high-voltage grid electrodes to accelerate ions with electrostatic forces.
SPT-140 is a solar-powered Hall-effect ion thruster, part of the SPT-family of thrusters. SPT stands for Stationary Plasma Thruster . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Like other members of the SPT series, it creates a stream of electrically charged xenon ions accelerated by an electric field and confined by a magnetic field.
The NEXT thruster has demonstrated, in ground tests, a total impulse of 17 MN·s; which as of 2010 was the highest total impulse ever demonstrated by an ion thruster. [2] A beam extraction area 1.6 times that of NSTAR allows higher thruster input power while maintaining low voltages and ion current densities, thus maintaining thruster longevity.
SPT-series thrusters. Upper-left one is SPT-100. SPT-100 is a Hall-effect ion thruster, part of the SPT-family of thrusters.SPT stands for Stationary Plasma Thruster.It creates a stream of electrically charged xenon ions accelerated by an electric field and confined by a magnetic field.
A 4-grid ion thruster with only 0.2 m diameter is projected to absorb 250 kW power. With that energy input rate, the thruster could produce a thrust of 2.5 N . The specific impulse (a measure of fuel efficiency ), could reach 19,300 s at an exhaust velocity of 210 km/s if xenon propellant was used. [ 3 ]
6 kW Hall thruster in operation at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall-effect thrusters (based on the discovery by Edwin Hall) are sometimes referred to as Hall thrusters or Hall-current thrusters.