Research on Micro Newtonian Electrospray Thruster with Wide Thrust Range

Abstract

In light of the demands for a micro-Newtonian level field emission electric thruster with wide，stable，precise， rapid，and persistent characteristics due to the drag-free control on satellites in space gravity wave detection missions，the mutual limitations between adjustable width range，resolution，and thrust noise should be broken through.Based on the principle of field emission thrust generation，and high-precision single pendulum to calibrate the accuracy of the model was uesd. Based on this thrust model，a flow and voltage-based active regulation strategy was established to control thrust，and a thrust feedback control strategy was proposed to maintain low thrust noise levels in a wider thrust range，accroding to the requirements for thrust control resolution and response speed. Finally，performance characterization was carried out on the developed prototype of the thruster principle，achieving 0.86-83.54 μN level，thrust resolution less than 0.1 μN，<0.1 μN/Hz^1/2，thrust noise in the millihertz frequency band less than 0.1 μN and less than 10 ms for thrust response time with constant flow.

Keywords

drag-free satellite / electrospray thruster / micro-thrust model / thrust measurement / feedback control