Modeling Spacecraft Charging Incident from the Effect of Background Plasma on Satellites with Electric Propulsion

Within the last decade, the space industry has steadily increased its usage of electric propulsion (EP), viewing it as a solution to many longevity and fuel consumption issues raised by the inherent weight limits for chemical propulsion rockets. Given the high specific impulse of EP thrusters, improving our knowledge of its efficiency and functionality, particularly as it relates to EP-generated plasma behavior, is imperative for long-term human exploration and expansion into deep space. Computational models especially are key to developing an enhanced understanding of the plasma behavior within the thrusters, as experimental facilities cannot fully emulate conditions found during flight, and data gathered may be negatively impacted by facility effects. In fact, when it comes to the space environment, it is exceedingly difficult to predict plasma and space weather behavior experimentally, and thus much of the current spacecraft design is based upon computational models of the plasma environment. Despite the abundance of models that predict plasma behavior within EP devices and the space environment, there have been fewer studies that have targeted simulating the coupling between the space plasma environment, the plasma emitted by EP devices, and the spacecraft. Previous studies have modeled space plasma effects on EP systems, but have primarily focused on nanosatellites with simple spacecraft geometries, and often neglect phenomena such as secondary electron emissions and the photoelectric effect, which can fundamentally change space plasma behavior. In order to address these research gaps, this project proposes increasing the predictability of current spacecraft charging models by focusing on three main aspects. The first is the development of a high- fidelity spacecraft charging model that utilizes kinetic theory to couple EP-generated plasmas with ambient space environment plasma simulations. The result will likely be a 3D Particle-in-cell (PIC) code. The second is the utilization of this model on complicated, realistic spacecraft geometries. The final topic is scaling the resulting computational model to simulate larger and higher power spacecraft systems. Altogether, we propose leveraging existing computational software that model various EP device behavior to develop our own robust Hall Thruster Kinetic model and augmenting it with space environment simulations in order to develop a more thorough understanding of the effect the two plasma populations have on each other when the EP device is in use. The final product will prove very impactful to the space and defense industry. Spacecraft charging has the potential to compromise the function of sensitive electronics and solar arrays which power EP devices, as well as cause material degradation, signal failure, power fluctuations, and noise. In addition, the discovery of any potentially negative effects on thruster performance and efficiency, material degradation, and the necessity of ion beam neutralizers will be essential to the future planning and deployment of further near-earth and deep-space EP missions. In fact, this study may open up new opportunities for space exploration via new orbit paths and missions which would encourage novel scientific pursuits.

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