Plasma-based thrusters: Electrostatic and electromagnetic coupling

Summary form only given. Electric propulsion for spacecraft offers many advantages compared to other traditional counterparts such as chemical propulsion. Plasma-based propulsion devices can be useful for satellites for the purpose of station-keeping, attitude control, formation-flying and possibly end-of-life de-orbiting for space debris mitigation. There is a growing interest to have a propulsion system for small satellites (microsatellites and nanosatellites) as their mission capabilities can drastically be increased. Satellites with masses of a few kilograms approximately require only tens of micronewtons of thrust for station-keeping and attitude control, implying that electric propulsion could be an excellent candidate. There are three main types of electric propulsion: electrostatic, electromagnetic and electrothermal, each with its own advantages and characteristics [1,2] depending on the application and space mission. In the present work, the different types of thrusters will be presented with an aim to design a hybrid thruster coupling the advantages of the three modes of electric thrusters. The simulations will detail the plasma evolution within the thrusters and help optimize the governing parameters such as electric and magnetic field profiles.