Breakthrough Long-life High-Isp Hall Thruster Technology With Auxiliary Gas Injection, Year 2

Demonstrate auxiliary flow technique that lowers discharge oscillations and reduces pole erosion by >1 order of magnitude.\nDevelop physics-based numerical model of Hall thruster oscillations to inform the technology design.\nInject xenon gas near the exit plane of an existing (H6) MS Hall thruster to reduce oscillations during high-Isp operation.

Following JPL and NASA GRC's development of the 12.5 kW Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding (HERMeS), which will be qualified for 23,000 hours of operation at Isp = 2000 - 3000 s, the next step forward for long-life Hall thrusters is naturally in high-Isp (\u2265 3000 s) operation.\nHigh-Isp Hall thrusters would enable deep space missions with higher payload fraction at reduced trip times compared to gridded ion engines, and at lower overall cost.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — 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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