NASA IS SEEKING ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING UP TO 20MN THRUST, INPUT POWER UP TO 1000W…

Public award description

NASA IS SEEKING ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING UP TO 20MN THRUST, INPUT POWER UP TO 1000W AND SPECIFIC IMPULSE RANGING FROM 1600-3500 SECONDS. THE TARGET MASS IS 1KG FOR THE THRUSTER AND 2KG FOR THE POWER PROCESSOR UNIT (PPU). THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL BE BASED ON A VARIANT OF OUR LOW POWER HET FAMILY, THE NASA IN-SITU CHANNEL REPLACEMENT TECHNOLOGY FOR THRUSTER LIFE EXTENSION, AND A SIMPLIFIED PPU BASED ON OUR PATENTED MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SINGLE CONVERTER PPU. IN PHASE I BUSEK PROPOSES TO DEVELOP SUBSYSTEM DESIGNS FOR THE THRUSTER/CATHODE, PPU AND XFS AND DEMONSTRATE THROUGH INTEGRATED TESTING A NEW POWER PROCESSING ARCHITECTURE THAT REPLACES THE FOUR MAIN DC-DC CONVERTERS OF A TYPICAL PPU WITH A SINGLE MULTI-FUNCTIONAL CONVERTER. A MAJOR ACTIVITY OF THE PHASE 1 EFFORT WILL BE THE DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TEST OF A BREADBOARD VERSION OF THE MULTI-FUNCTIONAL CONVERTER USING OUR HIGH EFFICIENCY POWER CONVERTER TOPOLOGY. IN PHASE II WE WILL DESIGN AND BUILD ENGINEERING PROTOTYPES OF EACH SUBSYSTEM AND CONDUCT A TRL 6 INTEGRATED SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE PROGRAM THE SYSTEM WILL BE DELIVERED TO GRC FOR EXTENDED DURATION TESTING IN NASA FACILITIES.