Development of an ASCENT Gas Feed System for the Phase Four RF Thruster (ASCENT)

This partnership aims to build and test a gas feed system that will enable the use of Advanced Spacecraft Energetic Non-Toxic (ASCENT) propellant with radiofrequency (RF) thrusters. The system would convert the ASCENT propellant into a gas that can be used with the RF thruster. In 2020 an Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) was awarded for lifetime testing of the Phase Four RF thruster. The current ACO partnership aims to provide an ASCENT Gas Feed System for Phase Four’s RFT and other similar RF thrusters. ASCENT is a novel propellant that is easier and safer to handle than hydrazine, for example. Specifically, the goal is to build and test an ASCENT gas feed system to support a dual-mode propulsion system. ASCENT propellant would feed both a high thrust liquid propulsion system and a high specific impulse Phase Four RFT. The focus of the ACO effort will be on the development of a propellant decomposition chamber (PDC), a component of the ASCENT feed system, which would provide gaseous propellant to the thruster. The chosen approach is an electrolytic PDC, which may offer some advantages over a catalytic system which include finer control of propellant flow rate, lower input power, and the avoidance of catalytic degradation. This effort is being conducted in parallel with work that Phase Four is performing for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) under a Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) award, to develop and demonstrate a catalytic PDC for use with ASCENT. The electrolytic PDC is being designed to have the same footprint as the catalytic version and with the same system performance.

The technology under development will enable ASCENT multi-mode propulsion systems. The PDC is critical component of a future ASCENT feed system that will enable Phase Four to provide the high specific impulse (Isp) propulsion element of a multi-mode propulsion system. This system will allow the operation of a liquid propulsion system (LPS) alongside the RF thruster as the electric propulsion system (EPS) element, both operating on the same propellant commodity. This multi-mode system unlocks the capability of future spacecraft to operate in high thrust (via the LPS) or high Isp/high delta-V (via the RF thruster as the EPS) modes, while reducing overall propellant and propulsion subsystem mass/volume fractions and simplifying refueling capability. This provides spacecraft with a wide range of maneuverability options, allowing trade-offs between fast maneuver times but lower total delta-v due to all chemical propulsion burns, or slower maneuver times but over twice the total delta-v achievable with exclusively EPS burns. Both options offer reduced complexity because only one propellant (and one propellant tank) is needed. Potential beneficiaries of this technology include both civilian and government small spacecraft users interested in destinations beyond low-Earth orbit and national security applications.

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