High-Impulse, Scalable, Metal Plasma Thruster for Cubesat Missions

The innovation in this SBIR project is the maturation of AASCrsquo;s TRL-4 Metal Plasma Thruster into a TRL-9 system that is fully flight qualified by a launch into space (June 2020), followed by commercial sales of multiple thruster systems to NASA and other satellite makers. This SBIR [Z8.01 Small Spacecraft Propulsion Systems]nbsp;points out that although there are currently many technologies for propulsion systems, the miniaturization of these systems for small spacecraft is a particular challenge. While cold gas or pulsed plasma systems support small Delta;v applications, modules that can provide more demanding maneuvers still need development. NASA seeks complete propulsion system solutions (thrusters, valves, propellant, sensors, electronics, etc.) capable of full-scale flight demonstration on 27U, 12U, 6U, or 3U CubeSats in support of deep space and/or swarm topology missions. Of particular interest are propulsion system solutions offering long life, reliability, and minimalistic use of CubeSat resources (power, energy, volume, and mass), while delivering propulsion capabilities that meet requirements. AASC has met these goals with its innovative, electric propulsion thruster (MPT) that has no moving parts, uses solid propellant (non-toxic stable metals such as Mo, Nb, Pd and many others), is compact (fits into 3U CubeSats, and is modular, so scalable to 12U, 27U and even larger platforms. The simplicity of the system and relatively low manufacturing cost make the MPT highly attractive to the CubeSat market. The technology has matured from TRL-4 to TRL-6 during the Ph-I effort. During Ph-II, we intend to take it to TRL-9 by launching into space and gathering operational data during positioning and attitude adjustment maneuvers on a 100kg satellite.