A High Isp Hall Thruster for Advanced In-Space Propulsion

Ambitious near Earth and interplanetary missions require long life, high efficiency, high Isp primary propulsion. To address this need, Busek proposes to develop a Hall thruster with increased performance, reduce mass, reduced complexity and lower cost over state-of-the-art ion propulsion systems. In Phase I, using an existing nominally 2 kW thruster we propose to evaluate several innovative methods of achieving high efficiency, high Isp performance, including two-stage thruster concepts. Also in Phase I we will design a two-stage magnetics thruster to be built and tested in Phase II. Achieving the targeted 3200 sec Isp, 100 mN thrust at 2.3 kW thruster input power will result in a significant reduction in propulsion system wet mass at higher thrust density than grided ion engines.In Phase II, the most promising approach for achieving the targeted performance will be selected for further optimization. At the conclusion of Phase II, Busek will deliver to NASA an advanced laboratory prototype thruster for independent performance testing.