Design, development and simulation activities of an RF helicon-based plasma thruster for VLEO satellites

Abstract To achieve a feasible lifetime of several years, most satellites are deployed in orbits higher than 400 km. Drag of residual atmosphere causes a slow orbit decay, resulting in the deorbit of the spacecraft. For an orbit range of 150–300 km, a solution to achieve this is the application of atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion, where the residual atmosphere is used to generate continuous thrust that compensates drag. The Institute of Space Systems developed an advanced electrode-less RF Helicon-based plasma thruster (IPT) within the EU Horizon 2020 project DISCOVERER. The electrode-less design featuring a quartz tube surrounded by an advanced RF antenna promises low sensitivity towards corrosion, low-pressure ignitability and the quasi-neutral operational regime removes the necessity of a neutralizer. Based on heritage, a new design of the thruster is being developed under the ESA ram-CLEP project. This design approach is aiming to mature the technology as a candidate suitable for a VLEO applications. This imposes several requirements and constraints such as mission and spacecraft aspects. Moreover, the design approaches for the current thruster design are depicted. First, the design concept of the thruster is described, based on given constraints and requirements, followed by a simulation analysis to achieve the required electro-magnetic performance of the antenna. Last, the final iteration of the design is concluded as well as the next design and realization steps planned to be incorporated into the system.