Spacecraft electric propulsion

Summary

Spacecraft electric propulsion (or just electric propulsion) is a type of spacecraft propulsion technique that uses electrostatic or electromagnetic fields to accelerate mass to high speed and thus generate thrust to modify the velocity of a spacecraft in orbit. The propulsion system is controlled by power electronics. Electric thrusters typically use much less propellant than chemical rockets because they have a higher exhaust speed (operate at a higher specific impulse) than chemical rockets. Due to limited electric power the thrust is much weaker compared to chemical rockets, but electric propulsion can provide thrust for a longer time. Electric propulsion was first successfully demonstrated by NASA and is now a mature and widely used technology on spacecraft. American and Russian satellites have used electric propulsion for decades. , over 500 spacecraft operated throughout the Solar System use electric propulsion for station keeping, orbit raising, or pr

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_electric_propulsion

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Optimal Design of the Propulsion System of a Hyperloop Capsule

Mario Paolone, Denis Tudor

In this paper, we focus on the assessment of the optimal design of the propulsion system of an energyautonomous Hyperloop capsule supplied by batteries. The novelty in this paper is to propose a sizing method for this specific transportation system, and answer the question whether the energy and power requirements of the Hyperloop propulsion are compatible with available power-electronics and battery technologies. By knowing the weight of a pre-determined payload to be transported along pre-determined trajectories, the proposed sizing method minimizes the total number of battery cells that supply the capsule’s propulsion and maximizes its performance. The constraints embed numerically-tractable and discrete-time models of the main components of the electrical propulsion system and the battery, along with a kinematic model of the capsule. Although the optimization problem is non-convex due to the adopted discrete-time formulation, its constraints exhibit a good numerical tractability. After having determined multiple solutions, we identify the dominant ones by using specific metrics. These solutions identify propulsion systems characterized by energy reservoirs with an energy capacity in the order of 0.5 MWh and a power rating below 6.25 MW, and enable an energy consumption between 10-50 Wh/km/passenger depending on the length of the trajectory.

2019

Influence of Battery Models on the Optimal Design of the Propulsion System of a Hyperloop Capsule

Mario Paolone, Denis Tudor

The paper assesses the influence of equivalent circuit battery models on the optimal design of the propulsion system of an energy-autonomous Hyperloop capsule. By knowing a pre-determined payload to be transported along pre-determined trajectories, the problem minimizes the total number of battery cells supplying the capsule propulsion along with the maximization of its performance. The constraints of the problem embed numerically- tractable models of the main components of the electrical propulsion systems and of the battery. Although the optimization problem is non-convex, its constraints are formulated to exhibit a good numerical tractability. After having determined the solutions influenced by a weighting factor with two different battery models, dominant solutions are identified using specific metrics with the purpose of assessing the impact of the battery model on the determined solutions.

IEEE2020

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Since 2008, the MicroThrust (MT) consortium consisting of EPFL, Nanospace, QMUL, SystematIC, and TNO has been working on the development of a MEMS based electric propulsion system. Since 2010, the work has been performed as part of the European Union’s FP7 programme with the goal to design, build and test an engineering model of such a system. The engineering model shall show that this propulsion system can fit in a nano-satellite in terms of mass, volume and power consumption, while giving the satellite a very large ∆V capability (up to 5 km/s). These requirements can only be met by extreme miniaturization and integration of all components. As a first step towards the engineering model, a laboratory breadboard model is currently under development. This paper starts with an analysis of a range of different mission scenarios that the MT could perform, to make sure that the mission requirements are clearly understood. It then describes the working principles and some of the design choices behind the different components of the breadboard. The project is now well underway, and some of the breadboard components are starting to take shape. Testing of the complete breadboard system is scheduled for 2013.

2012