Green Electric Monopropellant (GEM) Fueled Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Digital Solid State Propulsion is proposing the development of a new liquid Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT) using its revolutionary HAN-based Green Electric Monopropellant (GEM) to enable spacecraft missions whose fulfillment requires the high specific impulse of conventional Telfon-fueled PPTs, but would like the flexibility in mission design that liquid fueled systems allow. DSSP's GEM propellant is currently being developed as a chemical propellant whose density specific impulse is superior to any currently available monopropellant and is competitive with many state of the art bipropellants while remaining space-storable, has low toxicity and low sensitivity, and needs no bulky catalyst bed or long preheating to function. DSSP's solid propellant formulations have also demonstrated the ability to fire thrusters at up to 1,000 seconds of specific impulse when used as an electric propellant- the thrust versus specific impulse balance is determined by the amount and 'shape' of the electric power applied. DSSP intends to develop a PPT that can be commanded to fire at high specific impulse depending on mission requirements which is fed by plumbing and a fuel tank to enable more ambitious and more efficient missions for future satellites.

In addition to 1U-3U satellites, mostly used for earth observation missions and technology demonstrations, there is particular interest by NASA and private sources to use larger CubeSat configurations (12U) for low cost planetary exploration, starting with the moon. Future NASA mission that could benefit from the liquid PPT thruster being developed herein are: BioSentinel (NASA Ames), LWADI (NASA Goddard) and, iiSat (NASA Marshall) just to name a few.

Of the 110 CubeSats launched in 2014, only two were built by NASA, showing that large parts of the CubeSat community are universities, private companies, and international space agencies. All of these organizations are looking towards industry to develop CubeSat sized propulsion systems to help complete their specific mission, whether those needs are attitude control for accurate pointing or delta-v to increase on-orbit longevity due to atmospheric drag.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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