Results for “Hall thruster technology” — Page 4

NASA NTRS2018

Reconfiguration of NASA GRC's Vacuum Facility 6 for Testing of Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) Hardware

The NASA Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding (HERMeS) 12.5 kW Hall thruster has been the subject of extensive technology maturation in preparation for development into a flight propulsion system. The HERMeS thruster is being developed and tested at NASA GRC and NASA JPL through support of the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and is intended to be used as the electric propulsion system on the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) of the recently announced Deep Space Gateway (DSG). The Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) contract was awarded to Aerojet-Rocketdyne to develop the HERMeS system into a flight system for use by NASA. To address the hardware test needs of the AEPS project, NASA GRC launched an effort to reconfigure Vacuum Facility 6 (VF-6) for high-power electric propulsion testing including upgrades and reconfigurations necessary to conduct performance, plasma plume, and system level integration testing. Results of the verification and validation testing with HERMeS Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU)-1 and TDU-3 Hall thrusters are also included.

Peterson, Peter Y.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Characterization of a 100-kW Class Nested-Channel Hall Thruster

The next generation of electric propulsion consists of systems in excess of 300 kW of power. These systems enable a wide variety of missions, including crewed missions to near-Earth asteroids and Mars. Hall thrusters are a particularly attractive technology for these missions, but development and demonstration of 100-kW class devices has been limited to date. Here, a 100-kW class three-channel nested Hall thruster called the X3 was operated up to 102 kW total discharge power. The three channels of the X3 can be operated in any combination, providing seven unique configurations and a total throttling envelope of 2-200 kW. Previous testing of the X3 was limited to 30 kW and found that it was not providing state-of-the-art performance.Two low-power test campaigns were completed at the University of Michigan which identified potential mechanisms for this under-performance. Improvements to the thruster were made before a high-power performance characterization at NASA Glenn Research Center. There, the X3 was fired on xenon propellant from 5-102 kW total power. The thruster demonstrated stable operation in all seven channel combinations at discharge voltages from 300 V to 500 V and three different current densities. All seven channel combinations demonstrated similar performance at a given discharge voltage and current density. The largest thrust recorded was 5.4 N, and total efficiency and specific impulse ranged from 0.54 to 0.67 and 1800 seconds to 2650 seconds, respectively.In addition to the performance measurements, a suite of plasma diagnostics and a high-speed camera were used to study the operation of the thruster in greater detail. The probe results are compared against those in the literature and demonstrate that the X3, even in multi-channel operation, is producing similar charge, mass, current, and voltage utilization efficiencies as state of the art single-channel Hall thrusters. High-speed camera analysis identified that the X3 operated with similar discharge current oscillations at all conditions tested. Additionally, a preliminary calculation of cross-channel ingestion and its effect on thruster efficiency is made. This work represents the highest total power (102 kW), thrust (5.4 N), and discharge current (247 A) demonstrated by a Hall thruster to date, improvements of 6 percent, 64 percent, and 119 percent respectively over previous values. These results are discussed in the context of continued high-power Hall thruster development and future mission applications.

Hall, Scott James↗

NASA NTRS2004

NASA's 2004 Hall Thruster Program

An overview of NASA's Hall thruster research and development tasks conducted during fiscal year 2004 is presented. These tasks focus on: raising the technology readiness level of high power Hall thrusters, developing a moderate-power/ moderate specific impulse Hall thruster, demonstrating high-power/high specific impulse Hall thruster operation, and addressing the fundamental technical challenges of emerging Hall thruster concepts. Programmatic background information, technical accomplishments and out year plans for each program element performed under the sponsorship of the In-Space Transportation Program, Project Prometheus, and the Energetics Project are provided.

Jacobson, David T.↗

NASA NTRS2019

High Power Demonstration of a 100 kW Nested Hall Thruster System

The XR-100 team successfully completed high power system testing of a Nested Hall Thruster system made up of the X3 Nested Hall Thruster, a modular Power Processing Unit, and a 5 valve Mass Flow Controller as the culmination of work performed under a NASA NextSTEP program. The test campaign attained several key firsts, including highest directly measured thrust of an electric propulsion (EP) string, highest demonstrated current of an EP string, and highest power operation of an EP string at thermal equilibrium published to date. Most importantly, the XR-100 system testing demonstrated that a 100 kW-class Nested Hall Thruster system has comparable performance and behavior to current state-of-the-art mid power Hall Thrusters, validating that the heritage technology can be scaled up to 100+ kW

Shark, Sarah↗

NASA NTRS2019

High Power Demonstration of a 100 kW Nested Hall Thruster System

The XR-100 team successfully completed high power system testing of a Nested Hall Thruster system made up of the X3 Nested Hall Thruster, a modular Power Processing Unit, and a 5 valve Mass Flow Controller as the culmination of work performed under a NASA NextSTEP program. The test campaign attained several key firsts, including highest directly measured thrust of an electric propulsion (EP) string, highest demonstrated current of an EP string, and highest power operation of an EP string at thermal equilibrium published to date. Most importantly, the XR-100 system testing demonstrated that a 100 kW-class Nested Hall Thruster system has comparable performance and behavior to current state-of-the-art mid power Hall Thrusters, validating that the heritage technology can be scaled up to 100+ kW

Shark, Sarah↗

NASA NTRS1999

High Power Hall Thrusters

The development of Hall thrusters with powers ranging from tens of kilowatts to in excess of one hundred kilowatts is considered based on renewed interest in high power. high thrust electric propulsion applications. An approach to develop such thrusters based on previous experience is discussed. It is shown that the previous experimental data taken with thrusters of 10 kW input power and less can be used. Potential mass savings due to the design of high power Hall thrusters are discussed. Both xenon and alternate thruster propellant are considered, as are technological issues that will challenge the design of high power Hall thrusters. Finally, the implications of such a development effort with regard to ground testing and spacecraft intecrati'on issues are discussed.

Jankovsky, Robert↗

NASA NTRS2019

Overview of NASA's Solar Electric Propulsion Project

NASA is continuing to develop and qualify a state of the art 13 kW-class Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) for NASA exploration missions through a contract with Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR). An objective of the AEPS project is accelerate the adoption of high power electric propulsion technologies by reducing the risk and uncertainty of integrating Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technologies into space flight systems. NASA and AR have recently initiated testing of engineering hardware including the Hall Current Thruster (HCT), Power Processing Unit (PPU), and Xenon Flow Controller (XFC) at both the component and system levels. The successful completion of these tests will provide the required information to advance the AEPS system towards Critical Design Review. In support of the AEPS contract, NASA and JPL have been performing risk reduction activities to address specific concerns of this higher power Hall thruster propulsion system. These risk reduction activities have included long duration wear testing of the Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) Hall thruster and cathode hardware, thermal cycling of TDU cathode heaters and coils, plasma plume measurements, and performed early circuit testing of the AEPS PPU design. In addition to the propulsion system development, the SEP project is developing the Plasma Diagnostic Package (PDP) and the SEP Testbed. The PDP is designed for use in conjunction with a high-powered electric propulsion (EP) system to characterize in-space operation. The SEP Testbed system is being developed to demonstrate integrated SEP system performance. The paper presents an overview of the NASA and the AEPS contract activities and a summary of the associated NASA in-house activities.

Plasma diagnostics package↗

NASA NTRS2002

Selection and Prioritization of Advanced Propulsion Technologies for Future Space Missions

The exploration of our solar system will require spacecraft with much greater capability than spacecraft which have been launched in the past. This is particularly true for exploration of the outer planets. Outer planet exploration requires shorter trip times, increased payload mass, and ability to orbit or land on outer planets. Increased capability requires better propulsion systems, including increased specific impulse. Chemical propulsion systems are not capable of delivering the performance required for exploration of the solar system. Future propulsion systems will be applied to a wide variety of missions with a diverse set of mission requirements. Many candidate propulsion technologies have been proposed but NASA resources do not permit development of a] of them. Therefore, we need to rationally select a few propulsion technologies for advancement, for application to future space missions. An effort was initiated to select and prioritize candidate propulsion technologies for development investment. The results of the study identified Aerocapture, 5 - 10 KW Solar Electric Ion, and Nuclear Electric Propulsion as high priority technologies. Solar Sails, 100 Kw Solar Electric Hall Thrusters, Electric Propulsion, and Advanced Chemical were identified as medium priority technologies. Plasma sails, momentum exchange tethers, and low density solar sails were identified as high risk/high payoff technologies.

Eberle, Bill↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Electric Propulsion Development Activities for Space Nuclear Propulsion Applications

Given increased worldwide support for advanced nuclear technology for terrestrial applications, there is a renewed interest in the possibility of nuclear-reactor-powered spacecraft. NASA continues investing in the technology areas necessary to support NASA’s future scientific and exploration goals. One of those technologies areas is electric propulsion, a highly efficient means for in-space propulsion that increases fuel economy by ionizing and accelerating an onboard propellant using spacecraft electrical power. The current NASA portfolio of electric propulsion investments in support of space nuclear applications focuses on a range of future applications with total system power levels of 50 kilowatts to multimegawatt. These investments support a fast-paced incremental rate for technology development advancement to support these applications. Systems at the 50-kilowatt power level can be accomplished today with existing technology and systems at the multimegawatt level will require further technology developments over the coming decade. Propulsion systems based an array of multiple Hall thrusters have been identified the most likely technology option for the near-term applications and systems utilizing lithium-fueled magneto-plasma-dynamic thrusters have been identified as the most promising alternative technology option for the far-term applications at very high-power levels.

Electric Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Electric Propulsion Development Activities for Space Nuclear Propulsion Applications

Given increased worldwide support for advanced nuclear technology for terrestrial applications, there is a renewed interest in the possibility of nuclear-reactor-powered spacecraft. NASA continues investing in the technology areas necessary to support NASA’s future scientific and exploration goals. One of those technologies areas is electric propulsion, a highly efficient means for in-space propulsion that increases fuel economy by ionizing and accelerating an onboard propellant using spacecraft electrical power. The current NASA portfolio of electric propulsion investments in support of space nuclear applications focuses on a range of future applications with total system power levels of 50 kilowatts to multimegawatt. These investments support a fast-paced incremental rate for technology development advancement to support these applications. Systems at the 50-kilowatt power level can be accomplished today with existing technology and systems at the multimegawatt level will require further technology developments over the coming decade. Propulsion systems based an array of multiple Hall thrusters have been identified the most likely technology option for the near-term applications and systems utilizing lithium-fueled magneto-plasma-dynamic thrusters have been identified as the most promising alternative technology option for the far-term applications at very high-power levels.

Electric propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Progress on the Development and Qualification of a 12-kW Hall-Effect, Solar Electric Propulsion Thruster

I. Motivation and Background Beginning in 2014, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) began a project to increase the state of the art for the Hall-Effect Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technology. The resulting Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) project has developed a 12 kW Hall Current Thruster in support of the NASA mission to establish a permanent human presence in lunar orbit and to land the next American astronauts on the South Pole of the Moon. The project is led by the NASA Glenn Research Center, supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and development, qualification & flight hardware all provided by L3 Harris Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR).The AEPS project has completed the development testing of a high power, solar electric propulsion Hall Current thruster that will be used on the NASA Power & Propulsion Element (PPE) of the Gateway space station. NASA initially built three Technology Development Units to understand key characteristics of the hall-effect rocket with magnetic shielding. The design led to development testing on two Engineering Test Unit Thrusters and multiple critical components. The project has begun production of the three flight thrusters and entered qualification testing at the component and thruster levels. II. Approach NASA and AR teams completed all development phases of the project, including full development and integration testing of the Engineering Model hardware, Critical Design Review, and ground test equipment validation, as well as fabrication and acceptance testing of the initial qualification thruster. Qualification and verification of the environmental and life requirements of the AEPS design was initiated in the Fall of 2023 and will be accomplished on two thruster units and using a series of component-level tests during 2024 and 2025. Environmental testing will incorporate functional reference firings, shock, vibration, and Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) testing. Life verification will assess the thruster wear and performance over the lifetime of the Gateway spacecraft. Critical component qualification tests include cathode heater, magnet coils, magnet heaters, temperature sensors, and a cathode assembly that will undergo life cycle testing on multiple units. Flight thrusters will complete assembly and acceptance testing and be delivered to the PPE program in early 2025. III. Preliminary and Anticipated Results The program has completed the acceptance testing, including dynamic testing and hot fire characterization, of the first qualification thruster. In the Fall of 2023, the program entered the environmental qualification phase for thruster testing. This paper will present an overview of the AEPS thruster project, thruster capabilities and flight design, preliminary results from the thruster acceptance and qualification testing, component life cycle testing and flight hardware status.

Clayton Kachele↗

NASA NTRS2006

Mission Benefits of Gridded Ion and Hall Thruster Hybrid Propulsion Systems

The NASA In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) Project Office has been developing the NEXT gridded ion thruster system and is planning to procure a low power Hall system. The new ion propulsion systems will join NSTAR as NASA's primary electric propulsion system options. Studies have been performed to show mission benefits of each of the stand alone systems. A hybrid ion propulsion system (IPS) can have the advantage of reduced cost, decreased flight time and greater science payload delivery over comparable homogeneous systems. This paper explores possible advantages of combining various thruster options for a single mission.

Dankanich, John W.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Progress on the Development and Qualification of a 12-kW Hall-Effect, Solar Electric Propulsion Thruster

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to evolve the human exploration approach for beyond low-Earth orbit and in a manner involving international, academic, and industry partners. The center of this approach is NASA’s Gateway program that will establish a permanent human presence in lunar orbit for human cislunar science, operations, and lunar surface access to eventually land the next American astronauts on the south pole of the Moon. In support of the effort, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) began a project to increase the state of the art for the Hall-Effect Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technology. The resulting Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) project has developed a 12 kW Hall-effect thruster in support of the Gateway program. The project is managed by the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), supported by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with development, qualification & flight hardware all supplied by L3 Harris Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR). Development of the 12-kW Hall thruster electric propulsion system began with maturation of the Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding (HERMeS) Technology Demonstration Units (TDUs). The technology development was then transitioned to AR via the AEPS contract, which built and tested two Engineering Test Unit (ETU) thrusters and multiple critical components. The project transitioned to the production of the three flight thrusters and entered qualification testing at the component and thruster levels.

Electric Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Progress on the Development and Qualification of a 12-kW Hall-Effect, Solar Electric Propulsion Thruster

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to evolve the human exploration approach for beyond low-Earth orbit and in a manner involving international, academic, and industry partners. The center of this approach is NASA’s Gateway program that will establish a permanent human presence in lunar orbit for human cislunar science, operations, and lunar surface access to eventually land the next American astronauts on the south pole of the Moon. In support of the effort, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) began a project to increase the state of the art for the Hall-Effect Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technology. The resulting Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) project has developed a 12 kW Hall-effect thruster in support of the Gateway program. The project is managed by the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), supported by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with development, qualification & flight hardware all supplied by L3 Harris Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR). Development of the 12-kW Hall thruster electric propulsion system began with maturation of the Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding (HERMeS) Technology Demonstration Units (TDUs). The technology development was then transitioned to AR via the AEPS contract, which built and tested two Engineering Test Unit (ETU) thrusters and multiple critical components. The project transitioned to the production of the three flight thrusters and entered qualification testing at the component and thruster levels.

Electric Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) Enabling a Sustainable Return to the Lunar Surface through NASA Gateway

NASA continues to evolve a human exploration approach for beyond low-Earth orbit. The center of this approach is NASA’s Gateway that is envisioned to provide a maneuverable outpost in lunar orbit to extend human presence in deep space and expand on NASA exploration goals. The Gateway represents the initial step in NASA’s architecture for human cislunar operations, lunar surface access and missions to Mars. NASA announced at the May 2020 NASA Advisory Council’s Human Explorations and Operations Committee a new plan that calls for launching the first two elements of Gateway as a co-manifested mission in the late 2023 timeframe [2]. Launching the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) together reduces mission risk, utilizes the PPE high-powered Electric Propulsion (EP) system to transport both elements to the lunar orbit, and reduces overall cost. NASA and Maxar Technologies have a commercial partnership to develop and demonstration a high-powered Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) spacecraft [3, 4]. The PPE is baselined to include three 12.5-kW Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems (AEPS) and four 6-kW Hall thrusters, currently under development by Maxar, for a total beginning of life propulsion power of over 48-kW [5]. High-power solar electric propulsion is one of the key technologies that has been prioritized because of its significant exploration benefits, specifically, for missions beyond low Earth orbit. Spacecraft size and mass are currently dominated by onboard chemical propulsion systems and propellants that may constitute more than 50 percent of spacecraft mass. This impact can be substantially reduced through the utilization of SEP, due to its higher specific impulse and lower propellant load required to meet the equivalent mission delta-V. Studies performed for NASA’s HEOMD and Science Mission Directorate (SMD) have demonstrated that 40-kW-class SEP provides the necessary capabilities that would enable near term and future architectures, and science missions [6]. Accordingly, NASA has been developing a 12 kW Hall thruster electric propulsion thruster that can serve as the building block for a 40-kW-class SEP capability. The AEPS development, led by the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), began with the maturation of the high-power Hall thruster. The technology development work has transitioned to AR via a competitive procurement selection for the AEPS contract in May 2016. Management of the AEPS contract is being led by NASA GRC with funding from NASA’s Science Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) under the Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) program. NASA continues to support the AEPS development leveraging in-house expertise, plasma modeling capability, and world-class test facilities.

AEPS↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Risk-Based Methodology for the Determination of Hall Thruster Performance Specifications

This work adapts manufacturing and metrology industry standards to create a risk-based approach for the determination of electric propulsion performance specifications. The developed process is applied to 208 total thrust measurements acquired using three different NASA Hall Effect Rocket with Magnet Shielding (HERMeS) Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) 12.5-kW Hall thrusters in three different test facilities in order to generate thrust specifications at the 300 V/6.25 kW, 400 V/8.33 kW, 500 V/10.42 kW, and 600 V/12.5 kW operating conditions. These thrust specifications are used to perform a set of sample acceptance tests to illustrate the importance of adding additional conservatism using a parameter known of the Test Accuracy Ratio in order to control the risk to the thruster producer and consumer from false rejection and acceptance of thruster units.

HERMeS↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Risk-based Methodology for the Determination of Hall Thruster Performance Specifications

This work adapts manufacturing and metrology industry standards to create a risk-based approach for the determination of electric propulsion performance specifications. The developed process is applied to 208 total thrust measurements acquired using three different NASA Hall Effect Rocket with Magnet Shielding (HERMeS) Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) 12.5-kW Hall thrusters in three different test facilities in order to generate thrust specifications at the 300 V/6.25 kW, 400 V/8.33 kW, 500 V/10.42 kW, and 600 V/12.5 kW operating conditions. These thrust specifications are used to perform a set of sample acceptance tests to illustrate the importance of adding additional conservatism using a parameter known of the Test Accuracy Ratio in order to control the risk to the thruster producer and consumer from false rejection and acceptance of thruster units.

HERMeS↗

NASA NTRS2018

Sub-Kilowatt Electric Propulsion (SKEP) Project

Poster describing the Sub-Kilowatt Electric Propulsion (SKEP) project to develop a propulsion system (HET (Hall-Effect Thruster), PPU (Power Processing Unit - solar electric propulsion) and XFS (Xenon Feed System)) for ESPA ( Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter)-class spacecraft. Technology Goal: SKEP will develop and qualify a long-life, sub-kilowatt integrated propulsion system based on recent advances in Hall-Effect Thruster (HET) technology that will support exploration missions and enable high-value science and commercial applications within the constraints of an ESPA-class spacecraft. Enable double to triple the delta-v propulsive capability currently available to secondary spacecraft, thus making ESPA-class spacecraft compelling for NASA exploration and science missions as well as many commercial applications.

Hall Effect Thruster↗