Research on the Experiment of 5 kW Annular Ion Thruster

Abstract

Lanzhou Institute of Physics has developed a 5 kW annular ion engine to meet the needs of high-power electric thrusters in deep space exploration. The discharge chamber design of annular ion engine is very different from that of the traditional ion engine，facing a series of potential technical risks，such as unstable/non-uniform discharge，excessive discharge loss. After completed design and manufacture of the prototype， the experimental research work was carried out. The change rule of electric parameters of the thruster has been studied and the optimum working point was found through performance test，the distribution of plasma density and electron temperature in discharge chamber has been studied through plasma diagnostic test. Test result indicates that the annular discharge chamber works stably in a wide range of discharge current，the beam current is still well uniformed although the single discharge cathode is not on the axis line of the discharge chamber. It has preliminarily demonstrated the feasibility of the concept of the annular ion engine，and has laid technical foundation for further optimization design.

Keywords

electric propulsion / annular ion engine / experimental research / plasma diagnosis