Design and development of a modular low current heaterless hollow cathode for space electric propulsion

The aim of this project is to design a modular, low current, heaterless hollow cathode for space electric propulsion application. The rising interest in smallsats drives the research to focus in tailored electric thrusters, in particular low power hall thrusters. At the moment only a few existing cathodes are able to operate at sub-Ampere current level so there is a concrete need in developing them. The modular nature of this hollow cathode allows the quick testing of different configurations and geometries and fast replacement of failed components. Plus, the lack of heater enables a lower system mass, given that the heater PPU is not needed anymore, and a better reliability, given that the heater represents a single-point failure element.