Application of an electrospray thruster in a nanosatellite

Use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) could lead to the mass production of small (<10kg) satellites that are highly reliable and low-cost. To satisfy the satellites propulsive requirements a thruster will need to have a high specific impulse yet still be small enough to not contribute significant weight to the system. An electrospray thruster, a MEMS-based electric propulsion (EP), can provide the necessary thrust requirements. After calculating the Av budget and attitude control needs, it was determined that 0.474 mN of thrust was needed for this momentum-biased vehicle. The lifetime includes maneuvering the satellite to the correct orbital position and in-orbit operation. An array of 69x69 needles on the emitter die will provide this thrust plus a small margin. A constellation of 180 satellites will give complete global coverage. The cost to fabricate and launch the system will be approximately $100 million.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Greene, Courtney N. (Courtney Nichelle)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Paulo Lozano.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45839

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/45839