Jena 2013 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik

P 18: Poster: Plasmatechnologie

P 18.2: Poster

Donnerstag, 28. Februar 2013, 14:00–16:00, Poster EG

Development of an electric propulsion system for the UWE-4 pico satellite — •Mathias Pietzka, Marina Kühn-Kauffeldt, and Jochen Schein — Universität der Bundeswehr München, Institut für Plasmatechnik und Mathematik, Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39, 85577 Neubiberg

The University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich is developing a highly precise electric propulsion system for the fine positioning of the upcoming UWE-4 pico satellite of Wuerzburg University. The so called Vacuum Arc Thruster consists of two electrodes insulated from each other. The application of voltage between these electrodes leads to the formation of a plasma plume from the eroded cathode material and therefore to a thrust in the range of Micro Newton. The insulator surface is coated with a conducting layer to decrease the resistance between the electrodes and therefore reduce the required ignition voltage. Recent research is concentrated on the reliability of this layer and, via the plume characteristics, on the improvement of the thrust vector. Therefore the physical properties of the involved materials are of interest as well as a deeper grasp of the cathodic arc phenomena which are not well understood until now. Electric probes and an innovative high speed imaging system are used to determine the physical properties of the plasma plume in correlation with constructive and electrical parameters while the thrust itself is measured by a highly sensible thrust balance. Latest results of this investigation will be presented and discussed here.