| Popis: |
Electric propulsion has matured to replace chemical propulsion for station keeping on virtually all major Soviet satellites. The Closed Drift Hall-type thruster was developed at the Research Institute for Thermal Processes, "NIITP", the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, "KIAE", and the Design Office "FAKEL". The thrusters were powered by solar cells and have been flown on more than 50 (and less than 100) satellites. Higher powered, 6 kWe versions of the engine currently under development might also be coupled to Soviet Topaz 11 type nuclear reactor power supplies. Near term modifications of Topaz II can provide for GTO to GEO orbital transfer, station keeping and primary power for communications satellites with up to 11 kWe of on-board long endurance power. Larger versions of these engines look attractive with 30 to 40 kWe reactor power systems, which would be based upon SNAP and Topaz state-of-the-art technologies for a variety of civil applications. For example: such systems could transfer an entire communications satellites, launched into LEO with smaller boosters, for LEO and GEO in about 4 to 6 months. Communications satellites equipped with long life 30 kWe power systems might do the job of 4 or 5 current satellites, or might consider higher power and frequency (60 Ghz) transmission with substantially increased band width. Satellites in the 30 to 40 kWe power systems coupled to Closed Drift Thrusters using lithium propellant, or coupled to Cs or Xe ion engines, will be interesting for propelling and powering large deep planetary space probes. These engine concepts would be modified and scaled up to the multimegawatt power level for propulsion of large Martian cargo transports and even to assist in manned Martian transfer vehicles. Backeround Electric propulsion applications have largely been tabled for the past 30 years in the USA, for lack of large electric power sources. In parallel with early 1960's U.S. research into arcjets, ion thrusters and MPD thrusters, the scientists of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (KIAE) and of the Research Institute of Thermal Processes (NIITP) worked on similar projects. They sustained their work on the "stationary plasm" Thruster (SPT) to the present time. Most Americans refer to the concept as the "Closed Drift Hall Type" thruster. The soviets have flown the SIT many times to perfect the device. The units are now standard station keeping thrusters on over 50 soviet satellites. These smalI 200 watt to 1350 watt engines are solar and battery powered. To date, none of these engines have failed in service. Figure I . SNAP LOA T e s t i n g Figure 2 . TOPAZ I1 6 kWe Reactor Space Power System Presented a t AIM/NASA/OAI Conference on Advanced " Pres ident , CEO, Hember AIAA SEI Technologies , September 4 6 , 1991 |
