Electric-based Combined Cycle Thruster for Multi-mode Propulsion

The Electric-Based Combined Cycle (EBCC) thruster is a new approach to spacecraft propulsion that combines the high thrust of a chemical combustion system and the high Isp of an electric propulsion thruster into a single thruster. In EBCC, a chemical propellant is burned in a sub-100 N rocket within a pulsed EP system. That decomposed, hot, neutral gas is then accelerated in a 5kWclass neutral entrainment thruster. Neutral entrainment uses molecular charge-exchange and dissociation processes in a pulsed electromagnetic accelerator to lower ionization losses and dramatically increase the total thrust-to-power. This coaxial geometry decreases overall system mass and complexity, while simultaneously increasing performance. By harnessing the momentum and chemical energy of the combustion propellant and entraining it in a plasma stream, a T/P can be increased to 110+ mN/kW at 1000 s on these lightweight propellants. This Phase I program will answer the challenges associated with combining a high flow chemical system with a low flow EP thruster. An experimental investigation will demonstrate the operation of a neutral entrainment thruster with a pulsed, high temperature gas injector. Additionally, this program will increase the fundamental understanding of the molecular species dynamics within a neutral entrainment process through analytical and experimental investigations.