Development and test of a cost-efficient gridded ion thruster propulsion system for small satellites – IonJet

IonJet is an engineering model of a low-cost electric propulsion system for small satellites. Whereas the flow control subsystem is based on the MICROJET 2000 system launched 2016 on the BIROS satellite, the thruster subsystem is based on a novel gridded ion thruster where the neutralizer is integrated in the ion thruster allowing for simultaneous ion and electron extraction. This design allows reducing the number of components and consequently costs and system complexity. The whole system was successfully tested under vacuum conditions regarding ignition and stable operation of the propulsion system. In the performance tests, thrusts of 1 mN could be achieved using Xe gas as propellant at a total power consumption of less than 50 W as well as specific impulses larger than 1000 s, including the gas consumption of the neutralizer. In addition, first tests with Kr gas were performed showing that for the same total power the achievable thrust is reduced to 55% – 68% of that for Xe.