NEW LOW COST, LOW VOLUME, LOW POWER, RUGGED ELECTROSPRAY THRUSTERS WILL BE IDEAL AS ACTUATORS FOR PRECISION…

Public award description

NEW LOW COST, LOW VOLUME, LOW POWER, RUGGED ELECTROSPRAY THRUSTERS WILL BE IDEAL AS ACTUATORS FOR PRECISION THRUSTING, IF PROVIDED WITH PRECISION HIGH VOLTAGE POWER SUPPLIES. THE SMALL THRUSTERS SHOW MINIMUM THRUSTS OF 1.2 NANONEWTON, AND THRUSTS SCALABLE IN A WIDE RANGE TO HUNDREDS OF MICRONEWTONS, WITH AN ISP OF 3500 SEC. WE PROPOSE IN PHASE I TO DEVELOP, TEST AND CHARACTERIZE WITH ELECTROSPRAY THRUSTERS A HIGH-PRECISION HIGH-VOLTAGE POWER SUPPLY OPTIMIZED FOR FINE CONTROL OF THE THRUSTERS, AND DESIGNED TO SUPPORT ACCURATE FORMATION FLYING OF SPACE TELESCOPE ELEMENTS, AND PRECISION ALIGNMENT AND STABILIZATION OF SPACE PLATFORMS. THE PHASE I HV SUPPLY DESIGN WILL BE DEVELOPED IN PHASE II INTO A CUBESAT FORMAT PRECISION ELECTROSPRAY THRUSTER ASSEMBLY INCLUDING THRUSTERS, AND READY FOR FLIGHT TESTS. AT THE END OF PHASE II PETA UNITS WILL BE PROVIDED AS PROTOFLIGHT AVIONICS TO BE FLOWN, TESTED AND QUALIFIED.