Prototyping and Experimental Characterization of a Micropropulsion System based on Supersonic Cold-Gas and Warm-Gas Micronozzles
- Paper number
IAC-05-C4.2.09
- Author
Dr. Giulio Manzoni, Microspace Srl, Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Sven Heisig, Japan
- Coauthor
Dr. Sohei Matsumoto, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan
- Coauthor
Prof.Dr.Eng. Ryutaro Maeda, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan
- Year
2005
- Abstract
In the not so distant past, space access and air/space technology superiority were the purview of the US and former Soviet Union’s space agencies, both vying for global leadership in space exploitation. Given the emergence of the European Space Agency with its member countries, and then Asian countries, into the family of space faring nations, it is more true than ever that Space access and utilization is now a truly global enterprise. It is possible to gauge the vitality of worldwide efforts from open sources in today’s transparent media-based society. In particular, print and web broadcasters regularly report and catalog global space activities for defense and civil purposes. A representative catalog of missions is used for the purposes of this paper to illustrate the nature of the emerging “globalization.” This paper highlights global trends in terms of not only the providers of space access, but also the end-users, for the various recent missions accomplished. With approximately 50 launches occurring per year, in recent years, the launch log as it were reveals a surprising percentage of “cooperative missions” where different agencies, countries, and/or commercial entities are involved presumably to the benefit of all who participated. A few ready statistics are used to show that recently over 40% of the 50-plus missions involved multiple nations symbiotically working to launch payloads. Observers and space policy professionals have eloquently proposed and then proselytized that it might require the combined resources and talents of multiple nations to advance human exploration goals beyond low earth orbit. This paper does not intend to offer new information in that regard; nevertheless, in continuing to monitor global trends, the results seem to support the thesis that a global interdependent effort with all its likely complexities is an increasingly viable and pragmatic option. The discussion includes a breakdown of space missions into those of scientific (civil), military, and strictly commercial value, and concludes that all three are robust components of a globally diversified portfolio of activities relying essentially on the same industrial base and infrastructure. As in other industries, the distribution of space industry assets and knowledge across countries and continents enables a diverse suite of options and arrangements particularly in the areas of civil and commercial space utilization.
This paper reports the latest experimental results obtained during the development of a micropropulsion system based on supersonic cold-gas and warm-gas micronozzles for attitude control of micro and nanosatellites. This experimental characterization follows the conceptual work and preliminary results presented by the author at the JPC 2000 [1], MST 2001 [2], AMST 2002 [3], with a series of tests in vacuum conditions of an optimized set of micronozzles manufactured at AIST (Japan) for a thrust of the order of 100 microN to 1 mN. The micronozzles have been manufactured by means of nanolithography and Reactive-Ion Etching and are assembled with the other MEMS components in microthruster modules ready to be mounted on micro and nanosatellites. Each module can produce 3 thrust vectors with minimum pulse of 100 ms fully adjustable from 0 to 100An innovative microbalance has been designed and realized in order to perform measurement of thrust under vacuum condition with range of 0 to 10 mN and precision below 10 microN. The effect of the losses in the nozzle has been observed and discussed by means of comparison between the experimental data and the CFD simulation of the flow through the nozzle and thrust measurements. Specific impulses between 30 s and 60 s have been observed under different heating temperature conditions. The complete micropropulsion system including tank, valves, piping and thruster modules for application on 3 axis stabilization of micro and nanosatellites has been designed and prototyped; a general description of the system and its functions will be presented including a discussion on the design methodology and customization of the system. This work is included in a research program aiming at the realization of efficient micropropulsion devices and systems enabling full 3 axis stabilization as well as orbital maneuver capability for nano and microsatellites presented by the author at the ISTS24 [4]. References [1] G.Manzoni “Design of a highly integrated micropropulsion system for microsatellites attitude control” - JPC 2000, Hunstville (USA), 2000. [2] G.Manzoni, L.Vaccari, E.Di Fabrizio, “Design and Prototyping of a highly integrated micropropulsion system for microsatellites attitude control”- MST2001, Düsseldorf (D), 2001 [3] F. De Bona, G. Manzoni “Measurement system for mN forces” AMST 2002 – Udine [4] G.Manzoni, S.Matsumoto, R.Maeda “Microthrusters and Microturbines Technologies and Prototypes: a Roadmap for Nanosatellites Propulsion and Power”, ISTS24, Miyazaki (Jp), 2004.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-C4.2.09.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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