The pressure dependence of the arc plasma propagation in simulated LEO environment

ESD ground tests with large-scale solar panels were conducted in simulated low-Earth-orbit plasma environment. In those experiments, the propagation length and velocity were measured in an argon plasma atmosphere, of which the plasma density was approximately 10¹⁰ m^-3. Additionally, the pressures were set at 4.0 times 10^-2, 1.9 times 10^-2 and 2.0 times 10^-3 Pa. The results indicated that the plasma propagation length was greater than 3.75 m at all pressure condition in this study. The plasma propagation velocity decreased with the decrease of the backpressure. The velocity was approximately 10⁴ m/s at 2.0 times 10^-3 Pa.