A propulsion system for an orbiting vehicle such as a low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite includes a set of surfaces over which a gas passes during orbital flight, and a plurality of electrodes on the surfaces. The electrodes are configured to create an electric field having a spatial field pattern in response to field signals, experienced by passing gas molecules as an oscillating field having a frequency on the order of a polarization-resonance frequency of the molecules to impart a propulsive traveling-wave dielectrophoretic force to the passing molecules. The electrodes extend over sufficient area to impart sufficient traveling-wave dielectrophoretic force to the gas to overcome aerodynamic drag and thereby sustain orbital flight of the vehicle. A power source applies the field signals to the electrodes, providing sufficient power to overcome power lost to aerodynamic drag and thereby sustain orbital flight.
PROPULSION AND GAS-MOVING SYSTEMS USING TRAVELLING-WAVE GAS DIELECTROPHORESIS
2018-10-04
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B64G Raumfahrt , COSMONAUTICS |
PROPULSION AND GAS-MOVING SYSTEMS USING TRAVELLING-WAVE GAS DIELECTROPHORESIS
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