In the second period of the project, the following main achievements are reported:
For the WP1, Ethics issue in the project have been monitored and none have been identified. The Deliverable D1.1 has been submitted.
WP2, is conducting management, dissemination and exploitation activities according to initial planned.
Regarding WP3 activities, the modelling codes SURFET and ROSEPIC have been successfully developed. SURFET was used to perform extended parametric analyses of the physics and operation of the ECRT in terms of the input power, mass flow rate, neutral gas injector location and geometry, ECR surface location and applied magnetic field strength. The actual geometry, field, and data of the 30W prototype at ONERA were used for the simulations. SURFET results were presented in deliverable D3.3 D3.4. ROSEPIC was developed first for 1D and 3D (D3.2) but major effort was spent to develop 2D capabilities, and first simulations were achieved. A preliminary kinetic-analytical model was also developed to better understand the physics of the source (D3.1).
The work performed in WP4 allowed studying different configurations and materials for the thruster. A new thruster version (waveguide coupled) was also tested. It also developed the proper hardware and protocols to make accurate performance measurements. It comprised the backbone of the experimental efforts in the project. The achievements and results are detailed in D4.1 and D4.2.
WP5 has been devoted to the tests of different gases as propellant, as alternative to Xenon, although in vacuum conditions not completely representative. Krypton, Argon, Air and Carbon Dioxide were tested. Also within WP5, the SURFET code of WP3 was used to simulate the performance of the device with three different propellants (Xe, Ar, Kr). Results are presented in deliverable D5.1.
The WP6 conducted successfully the testing and thrust measurements of the 50 W and 200 W ECR thruster in the JUMBO test facility and dealt with the analysis of the results in terms of performance, endurance and erosion of the thruster. A major achievement was to reach 50% efficiency on the thrusters, with an extrapolated lifetime of several thousand hours for the 200W thruster. Within WP6, the SURFET code of WP3 was used to perform scale-up studies, to compare numerically the performance of the 30W and 200W prototypes. Results were presented in deliverable D6.1 and D6.2.
WP7 has achieved the demonstration of a 25W SSPA with 70% efficiency, and of a combiner structure for several amplifier.
In WP8, a system Impact assessment was performed. A first evaluation led to D8.1. Mission and performance estimates by Safran then allowed TAS-B to assess the ECR technology in a complete mission in D8.2.Thanks to this tool TAS-B was able to highlight critical elements which are only visible in a point of view of global comparison. One example is the consequences of an extension of the mission duration due to lower thrust. The RF generator is also a critical element in the system's power supply chains, in particular for the power "scalability" of the system.
Work performed in WP9 consisted in gathering the performances and compare it to other thruster technologies (D9.1 and D9.2) and prepare the future work (D9.3).
