We have extensive experience with the design, development, qualification and testing of electric propulsion thrusters and their supporting systems. This expertise stems from over four decades of development and testing.
Some of our recent successes include:
In 1999 our 3mm diameter hollow cathodes were selected for the Artemis mission. They subsequently completed over 15,000 hours of operation before they were switched off, maintaining nominal conditions throughout the test.
In 2000 our T5 thruster was selected in open competition for the ESA Gravity and steady state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission, due for launch in 2006. It is required to provide near perfect atmospheric drag compensation in the range of 1 to 20 mN. Also in 2000 we were awarded a contract to qualify our 7mm diameter cathodes for the ROS2000 programme. These cathodes have successfully passed rigorous accelerated contamination tests and mechanical environmental tests.
In 2002 ESA selected our T6 thruster following open competition for the Bepi Colombo Technology Demonstration Activity supporting ESA's cornerstone mission to Mercury in 2012. The thruster has a dynamic range, based on actual thrust measurements, of 30 - 210mN. |
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