Project description
Get electric propulsion to get to space
Electric propulsion (EP) is considered by all space actors as a revolutionary technology for the new generation of commercial and scientific satellites. In Europe, all stakeholders including the European Space Agency (ESA) have been working to develop and increase the competitiveness of the European EP technology for different types of markets. The EU-funded AETHER project will advance EP thruster design towards a more flight representative stage. It will demonstrate sufficient and reliable net thrust production for the target applications. The ultimate goal of the project is to advance the EP portfolio of Europe with the world’s first EP air-breathing engine.
Objective
The limiting factor for the duration of space endeavours is often related to the total mass of propellant available on board. If a new propulsion device was capable of using the upper layers of the atmosphere as propellant, this would enable a vast spectrum of new planetary mission scenarios.
In recent years SITAEL has produced the world’s first example of such a device, the “RAM-EP” engine. This innovative electric propulsion (EP) thruster was successfully tested in an environment representative of VLEO, achieving TRL4.
The AETHER project will advance the thruster design towards a more flight representative stage, experimentally demonstrating sufficient and reliable net thrust production for the target applications. This will be achieved through the design optimization of the various thruster components, careful selection of materials and proper diagnostics tools, together with system-level design considerations.
Successful completion of the AETHER project will advance the electric propulsion portfolio of Europe with the world-first EP air-breathing engine, potentially shifting the paradigm of VLEO, LEO and planetary missions.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
70042 Mola Di Bari
Italy