Macron propulsion for formation flying requiring constant thrust

Author

Schonig, Jacob ; Ketsdever, Andrew ; Kirtley, David

Author_Institution

Univ. of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

fYear

2011

fDate

5-12 March 2011

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

8

Abstract

Recent advances in energy storage and solid-state switching enabled the use of peristaltic, pulsed inductive acceleration of non-ferritic particles for spacecraft propulsion. Single stage Macron Launched Propulsion systems electromagnetically accelerate gram-sized aluminum particles (i.e. macrons) to achieve exit velocities upwards of 100m/s. Research supports the implementation of a macron propulsion system as a means of constant momentum exchange of mass between satellites to enable sustainable tandem satellite formations with a theoretically infinite operational lifetime.

Keywords

aerospace propulsion; space vehicles; constant momentum exchange; constant thrust; energy storage; exit velocities; formation flying; gram-sized aluminum particles; macron propulsion system; nonferritic particles; operational lifetime; peristaltic pulsed inductive acceleration; single stage macron launched propulsion systems; solid state switching; spacecraft propulsion; sustainable tandem satellite formations; Acceleration; Atmospheric modeling; Drag; Firing; Force; Orbits; Satellites;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2011 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

ISSN

1095-323X

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-7350-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2011.5747503

Filename

5747503