In the post cold war, the United States Air Force is challenged by the need for increased maneuverability of the U.S. space assets, and the need to reduce launch costs. These needs have spawned the Electric Propulsion Space Experiment (ESEX). ESEX will address key issues associated with high power arcjets. Measuring performance in space and interactions on the spacecraft of this new plasma propulsion system will provide the first step towards the operational use of high power arcjets. Currently, the program is nearing completion of the second phase, in which the subsystems are being built, tested, and integrated into a flight unit. In the third phase, the flight unit environmental tests will be performed. In the last phases, the flight unit will fly aboard the P91-1 spacecraft, the Advanced Research Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) in late 1995.


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    Overview of the On-Obit Results from the ESEX Flight Experiment

    D. R. Bromaghim / J. R. LeDuc / R. M. Salasovich et al. | NTIS | 1999


    An overview of the on-orbit results from the ESEX flight experiment

    Bromaghim, D. / LeDuc, J. / Salasovich, R. et al. | AIAA | 1999


    Electric Propulsion Space Experiment (Esex) Flight Qualification and Operations

    Sutton, A. M. / Bromaghim, D. R. / Johnson, L. K. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1995