High Efficiency Multistage Plasma Thruster - Next Generation 2

Project Information

HEMPT-NG2

Grant agreement ID: 101004140

DOI

10.3030/101004140

Project closed

EC signature date 4 November 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Space

Total cost

€ 5 630 713,75

EU contribution

€ 3 998 499,64

Coordinated by

THALES DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HEMPT-NG2 (High Efficiency Multistage Plasma Thruster - Next Generation 2)

Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In the past years the market for electric propulsion on the sattelite market has evolved towards the use of many smaller low flying sattelites, the mega constellation market. This market is dominated by several international active service providers (mainly active in US or in relation to US such as Starlink, OneWeb ...)

European providers of EP solutions are confronted with a strong competition together with a massive decline of the traditional GEO market forcing them to go in the field of the large number constellation with very strong economic challenges.

Also the technology of EP is strategically important for Europe to have acces to high performance spacecraft services, as it got evident by the ukrainian crysis. A good example is given by Star link demonstrating the potential of having a telekomunication constellation under own controll to be able to spawn telecomunication services very quickly in particular in a crysis situation.

Finally the main source of EP engines, the russian company Fakel, practically got unavailable on the market rendering many planned mega constellations impossible to be implemented as planned.

All of this underlines the importance of having independant European sources of EP technology ready to deliver large quantities at competitive cost.

The HEMPT-NG2 project adresses this problem.

HEMPT is a key-candidate to overcome all the currently identified deficiencies of the existing EPS solutions
The HEMPT-NG2 project addresses the topic SPACE-28-TEC-2020 on Incremental Technologies which is part of the SRC - In-Space electrical propulsion and station keeping. It continues the predecessor HEMPT-NG. It will contribute to the principal target of the EPIC roadmap “to increase the competitiveness of the EP systems developed in Europe” by developing an integrated solution based on HEMPT (Highly Efficient Multistage Plasma Thruster) for the thruster, the fluidic management system, and the power processing unit.

The final products consist of modular elements, which can be put together to an Electric Propulsion System (EPS) ideally suited to the specific needs for LEO applications with an accessible power range of 200W to 700 W. The thruster module is capable of dual-optimized mode operations allowing orbit raising and station keeping with the same EPS or to select prior launch an ideal working point for the specific mission.

The HEMPT technology used in this project offers unique features compared to other EP technologies, namely higher lifetimes of the thrusters, drastic reduction of propellant consumption and minimal complexity of the principal technological concept providing an excellent basis for economic competitiveness

HEMPT-NG2 main mbjective was to finalize the already developed EP components and to quallify them such they can be sold on the constellation market. This was achieved.

In Detail the Objectives for this project were to support the more promising technologies developed in Phase 1 towards higher TRLs and taking into account the optimization of the recurring costs during the design phase in order, at the end of the Phase 2, to achieve the SRC expectations:
1. to be ready to be chosen for a potential IOD/IOV, and
2. to allow the developed EPS products to become competitive on the electric propulsion market at world level within the 2020-2030 timeframe.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The Project HEMPT-NG2 continued the work from its precursor Project, namely to develop, build and to Quallify a Elecric Propulsion System for LEO Application. Whereas the creation of an EPS up to TRL 4-5 was part of this preceeding Project, now the focus is on the development of a optimized solution for small to high quantities constellations in the 700W power class and its maturation. The main elements Thruster module, Flow control and Power supply unit have been predeveloped in course of HEMPT-NG. During this Project, first EM Model of the Thruster Module has been build and subjected to the different Tests such as Performance, Vibration and Thermal vacuum. Also the Design of this module was and is optimized for cost and production. For the System definition all interfaces and interunit definitions have been defined through coengineering. The different partners have worked on the designs for EMC, cost optimization and production. The Partners Aerospazio and University Greifswald have worked on the Diagnostics and Simulation Activities to progress in the understanding and meassurement of the plasma properties in particular in view on the creation of Lifetime modelling elements.
Finally the full system was qualified and full tested in Coupling Test and EMC Test. The Thruster Lifetest was staretd and continues.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The HEMPT technology has significant advantages compared to the other electrical propulsion technologies that are currently available (Hall effect thrusters and Grid ion thrusters). The lower mass and the ability to choose between high thrust and low propellant consumption operations will allow lighter or more powerful satellites. The absence of erosion will significantly improve the life duration of the thrusters. And finally the replacement of the xenon by the krypton that is more common in the atmosphere will lower the economic and ecological cost for satellite propellant.

The compatibility with krypton has been demonstrated in the recent coupling tests.

Presentation of the results in international conferences guaranteed critical feedback and impact of the work to the scientific community. Contact with students in the workgroup at the University offered a trigger for further academic qualification in this high-technology field.

System context diagram of an EPS with the delimitation of the HEMPT-NG2 scope.

HTM EV0 module in Performance Test Setup

The HEMP-Thruster concept uses permanent magnets for ion creation and acceleration