Performance diagnosis of ionic liquid electrospray thruster at different plume angles

Abstract The ionic liquid electrospray thruster is a microminiature thruster that can be applied on a micro or nano-satellite, and its highly energy-efficient, compact, modular system can be used for both main propulsion and altitude control. In this study, an ionic liquid electrospray thruster with a 100-tip emitter configuration is tested primarily to examine the difference in performance of the thruster at different angles with time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry tests. In the experiment, it was measured that the half-angle of the thruster plume angle emission was in the range of −60 degrees to +65 degrees. Accordingly, the measurement range was set from −50 degrees to +50 degrees, with an interval of 10 degrees. Relative to the results of the 0 degree current curve, the positive mode is relatively homogeneous at all angles of the operating mode. In the negative mode, for n 2 ions, the negative angle region accounts for a larger proportion and the positive angle region accounts for a smaller proportion, which makes a significant difference to the specific impulse of the two regions. The range of the specific impulse at different angles is 3776–4401 s under the typical working condition of +2.5 kV. Under −2.5 kV, the range of the specific impulse at different angles is 3309–4654 s. This research quantifies the angular performance variations of the ionic liquid electrospray thruster, offering valuable data to improve its design and operational reliability for precise propulsion and altitude control in satellite applications.