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<p>Astranis designs, manufactures, and operates MicroGEO satellites to provide internet access from geostationary orbit. Electric propulsion plays an enabling role by providing capability for orbit raise, stationkeeping, and slot relocation in a miniaturized bus. The unconventional electric thruster placement on MicroGEO spacecraft, in addition to their compact form factor, necessitates careful analysis of interactions between thruster plumes and spacecraft surfaces and design to mitigate resulting risks. If not properly accounted for, plumes may cause sputtering erosion of coatings, degradation of surface optical properties via deposition of eroded material, undesired torques and thermal loads, parasitic current collection by solar arrays, and attenuation of electromagnetic waves. Astranis has developed an in-house toolset to model interactions between plumes and spacecraft surfaces and uses this toolset to help drive spacecraft design. A ground test supported validation of the erosion-deposition-optical modeling chain. This paper provides an overview of plume interactions characterization at Astranis, where rapid development makes analytical models essential in addressing plume-induced risks. MicroGEO Block 2 hardware and operations design decisions were guided by an analysis of power and thermal system impacts of erosion and subsequent redeposition from a deployable reflector onto solar array and radiator surfaces. The success of the bus design in avoiding problematic plume impacts has been demonstrated by completion of full electric orbit raise on multiple spacecraft.</p>

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Development and application of a Hall thruster plume-spacecraft interactions modeling package for Astranis MicroGEO satellites

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月16日

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  • Colin Hegarty,
  • Roger Myers

摘要

Astranis designs, manufactures, and operates MicroGEO satellites to provide internet access from geostationary orbit. Electric propulsion plays an enabling role by providing capability for orbit raise, stationkeeping, and slot relocation in a miniaturized bus. The unconventional electric thruster placement on MicroGEO spacecraft, in addition to their compact form factor, necessitates careful analysis of interactions between thruster plumes and spacecraft surfaces and design to mitigate resulting risks. If not properly accounted for, plumes may cause sputtering erosion of coatings, degradation of surface optical properties via deposition of eroded material, undesired torques and thermal loads, parasitic current collection by solar arrays, and attenuation of electromagnetic waves. Astranis has developed an in-house toolset to model interactions between plumes and spacecraft surfaces and uses this toolset to help drive spacecraft design. A ground test supported validation of the erosion-deposition-optical modeling chain. This paper provides an overview of plume interactions characterization at Astranis, where rapid development makes analytical models essential in addressing plume-induced risks. MicroGEO Block 2 hardware and operations design decisions were guided by an analysis of power and thermal system impacts of erosion and subsequent redeposition from a deployable reflector onto solar array and radiator surfaces. The success of the bus design in avoiding problematic plume impacts has been demonstrated by completion of full electric orbit raise on multiple spacecraft.