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<p>Low-power and mass-efficient electric propulsion systems implementing plasma such as vacuum arc thrusters are beneficial for increase operational functionality of the small satellites. Here, we have been experimentally estimated the thrust-to-power ratio T/P and specific impulse Isp for the prototype of the three-stage µCAT-MPD thruster with coaxial annular low-power pulsing vacuum arc thruster as the first stage, and two sequential up to 120&#xa0;V dc-biased conical electrodes as the second (U2) and third (U3) stages, respectively. We found that apart from traditional falling T/P vs. Isp trend, the dependence between these parameters in the mentioned three-stage thruster, depending on U2 and U3 voltage values, can demonstrate plateau-like and even non-monotonous V-like behavior. We hypothesize that such multimodality arises due to the interaction of two different – electromagnetic and electrostatic – plasma acceleration mechanisms.</p>

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Anomalous thrust-to-power versus specific impulse trends of the three-stage µCAT-MPD thruster

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  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月15日

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  • Denis B. Zolotukhin,
  • P. C. Price,
  • M. Keidar

摘要

Low-power and mass-efficient electric propulsion systems implementing plasma such as vacuum arc thrusters are beneficial for increase operational functionality of the small satellites. Here, we have been experimentally estimated the thrust-to-power ratio T/P and specific impulse Isp for the prototype of the three-stage µCAT-MPD thruster with coaxial annular low-power pulsing vacuum arc thruster as the first stage, and two sequential up to 120 V dc-biased conical electrodes as the second (U2) and third (U3) stages, respectively. We found that apart from traditional falling T/P vs. Isp trend, the dependence between these parameters in the mentioned three-stage thruster, depending on U2 and U3 voltage values, can demonstrate plateau-like and even non-monotonous V-like behavior. We hypothesize that such multimodality arises due to the interaction of two different – electromagnetic and electrostatic – plasma acceleration mechanisms.