HALL EFFECT THRUSTERS: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE AND FUTURE EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS

May 23, 2013 HALL EFFECT THRUSTERS: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE AND FUTURE EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS Dr. Ned Britt, The Cameron Group, Inc. Hall effect thrusters (HET) are becoming a pervasive method of electric propulsion for satellite stationkeeping. Because communication satellites are trending toward higher-power solar arrays, and because HETs have relatively high thrust/power ratios, there is a move toward using this type of propulsion for orbit transfer as well as stationkeeping. With this design approach, the spacecraft becomes "all electric" as soon as it separates from the rocket-booster upper stage. Large gains in payload masses can be obtained with this type of spacecraft system, which is a compelling incentive driving the adoption of electric propulsion. In addition, future missions such as asteroid retrieval (for exploration and/or mining) or asteroid deflection to prevent catastrophic impacts with Earth would require higher-power electric propulsion, with higher thrust, than any currently available systems.

The preferred type of Hall effect thruster originated in Russian laboratories, where it was called a stationary plasma thruster. The basic design has since been jointly refined and improved by work in Europe and in the U.S. as well as in Russia. New configurations are being developed that have longer lifetimes, higher power, and improved performance. The history of HET development, comparison with other types of electric propulsion, and the physics innovations that are driving improvements in lifetime and performance for new configurations will be discussed.

Dr. Ned Britt is the Senior Vice President of The Cameron Group, Inc. He has over 40 years experience in a variety of R&D enterprises. Some areas of research and development have included space nuclear reactor systems, thermionic energy conversion, low-energy plasma physics, laser concepts, and various other systems of space power and propulsion. Dr. Britt is a cofounder of several research corporations including Rasor Associates, Inc.; Space Power, Inc.; International Scientific Products; and a Russian-American Joint Stock Company, INERTEK. In addition to holding patents on thruster designs, Dr. Britt was President and CEO of Space Power, Inc., when UTC - Pratt & Whitney acquired it in 2000. In 2005, he left Pratt & Whitney and joined The Cameron Group of consultants.