In 1984, the market for commercial geosynchronous communications satellites (comsats) was expanding and there was strong competition between spacecraft builders for market share. The propellant required for the north-south stationkeeping (NSSK) function was a major mission limiter, and the small chemical and resistojet systems then in use were at or near their physical limits. Thus, conditions were right for the development of a high performance NSSK system, and after an extensive survey of both propulsion technologies and the aerospace community, the NASA program chose hydrazine arcjets for development. A joint government/industry development program ensued which culminated in the acceptance of arcjet technology. NASA efforts included fundamental feasibility assessments, hardware development and verification, and multiple efforts aimed at the demonstration of critical operational characteristics of arcjet systems. Throughout the program, constant contact with the user community was maintained to determine system requirements. Both contracted and cooperative programs with industry were supported. First generation, kW-class arcjets are now operational for NSSK on the Telstar 401 satellite launched in December of 1993 and are baselined for use on multiple future satellite series (Intelsat 8, AsiaSat, Echostar). Arcjet development efforts are now focusing on the development of both high performance (600 s), 2 kW thrusters for application on next generation comsats and low power (Pe approximately 0.5 kW) for a variety of applications on power limited satellites. This paper presents a review of the NASA's role in the development of hydrazine arcjets with a focus on approaches, lessons learned, and the future.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    New Developments and Research Findings: NASA Hydrazine Arcjets


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Plasmadynamics and Lasers Conference ; 1994 ; Colorado Springs, CO, United States


    Publication date :

    1994-08-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    New developments and research findings - NASA hydrazine arcjets

    Curran, Francis / Byers, David | AIAA | 1994


    New Developments and Research Findings: NASA Hydrazine Arcjets

    Curran, F. M. / Byers, D. C. / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1994



    Cathode Sheath Voltage Models for Hydrazine Arcjets

    Junqing Lu / Herman Krier / Rodney L. Burton et al. | AIAA | 1998


    Initial on-orbit performance of hydrazine arcjets on A2100 satellites

    Zube, Dieter / Lichon, Paul / Cohen, Dan et al. | AIAA | 1999