A laboratory-model Hall-effect spacecraft thruster was developed that utilizes bismuth as the propellant. Xenon was used in most prior Hall-effect thrusters. Bismuth is an attractive alternative because it has a larger atomic mass, a larger electron-impact-ionization cross-section, and is cheaper and more plentiful.
Hall-Effect Thruster Utilizing Bismuth as Propellant
2008-11-01
Miscellaneous
No indication
English
High Density Hall Thruster Propellant Investigations
AIAA | 2012
|HALL THRUSTER PERFORMANCES USING LOW COST PROPELLANT
TIBKAT | 2019
|Hall thruster performances using low cost propellant
AIAA | 2019
|