Electric Propulsion of a Different Class: The Challenges of Testing for MegaWatt Missions

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Electric Propulsion of a Different Class: The Challenges of Testing for MegaWatt Missions

R. Florenz / T. M. Liu / A. D. Gallimore / H. Kamhawi / D. L. Brown

Currently, there is great interest in the development of high-power electric propulsion (EP) devices that can be employed in missions requiring >100 kW levels of propulsive power. Of the candidates for such thrusters, the Nested-channel Hall thruster (NHT) has been shown to be particularly scalable to this mission requirement. To this end, the University of Michigan s Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL), in conjunction with both the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and NASA, has developed a 100-kW-class NHT called the X3. While bringing the X3 to test-ready status, a number of developmental and facility-related challenges were encountered and overcome. This paper presents these challenges and the lessons learned associated with the X3's design, fabrication, and testing as a case study to inform other high-power EP development efforts.