Electric propulsion has recently been revisited for reboost of space station due to its high fuel efficiency. This paper focuses upon the propulsion system and orbit analysis trades undertaken at the beginning of a study to show the relative performance of potential electric propulsion system. A code was developed to analyze continuous low thrust reboost of space station with various electric propulsion systems at various power levels. Analysis showed that a major portion of reboost of space station can be made using electric propulsion systems with 0.5 N of continuous thrust. 1.0 N of EP thrust can provide almost the entire reboost mission, Three electric propulsion systems at various total power levels were chosen for further investigation: N2H4 arcjets at 5 kW, xenon Hall at 10 kW, and xenon ion thrusters at 20 kW. They were chosen for their ability to reduce the internationally launched chemical reboost fuel by 50% or more.


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    Title :

    Electric Propulsion for International Space Station Reboost: A Fresh Look


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    37th Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit ; 2001 ; Salt Lake City, UT, United States


    Publication date :

    2002-01-01


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English






    International Space Station Electrodynamic Tether Reboost

    Johnson, L. / Herrmann, M. / University of New Mexico; School of Engineering; Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1999