HYBRID: „Spacecraft electric propulsion elements“

Electric Propulsion (EP) is an efficient way of moving a spacecraft. In short, EP relies upon the ejection of ions into the vacuum of space to generate a net momentum. The large velocities of ions achieved by electrostatic or electromagnetic acceleration make EP much more efficient than chemical propulsion from a propellant consumption viewpoint, hence the interest and the high demand for the new satellite generations. In this contribution, I propose first a brief introduction to EP fundamentals followed by a series of examples of new results obtained recently in my laboratory. The introduction will compare EP with chemical propulsion and show main advantages and weak points of ion thrusters. It will also explain why and how EP has revolutionized the satellite market and made feasible unmanned space missions previously inaccessible. Finally, the various EP approaches and technologies will be described. In a second part, I will present and discuss recent experimental results obtained with magnetic-nozzle plasma thrusters, metal propellant thrusters and Hall effect thrusters. This part will demonstrate the usefulness of laser spectroscopy and machine learning in the field of EP.