Chapter 11
Application of Low-Power Pulse Plasma
Thrusters in Thrust Units of Small
Spacecrafts
Aleksander V. Bogatiy , Grigory A. Dyakonov , Roman V. Elnikov ,
and Garri A. Popov
Abstract The chapter considers the current state of work on flight models of pulsed
plasma propulsion systems. It is shown that the primary application area for propulsion systems based on an ablative pulsed plasma thruster is the station-keeping of
small spacecraft with the power of supply system of up to 100 W and with an active
lifetime in a range from 1 to 10 years in low Earth orbits with altitudes in a range from
400 to 700 km. It is also shown that ablative pulsed plasma thrusters can be efficiently
used to solve the problems of accurate attitude control and angular stabilization of
spacecraft.
11.1 Introduction
Currently, SpaceCraft (SC) with a mass of 10–1000 kg belonging to the class of Small
SC (SSC). The development of new electronic and optical technologies allows us to
fundamentally change the appearance and capabilities of SSC. Thus, at present SSC
with a mass of up to 100 kg can often have a payload with characteristics comparable
to those of a large spacecraft [1].
SSC can quite efficiently solve such urgent tasks as remote Earth sensing, navigation, mapping, communications, especially if they are combined into orbital systems,
including two or more spacecraft with optoelectronic, radar, and other equipment that
A. V. Bogatiy (B) · G. A. Dyakonov · R. V. Elnikov · G. A. Popov
Research Institute of Applied Mechanics and Electrodynamics of the Moscow Aviation, Institute
(RIAME MAI), 5 Leningradskoye schosse, Moscow 125080, Russian Federation
e-mail: boga-alex@yandex.ru
G. A. Dyakonov
e-mail: grigory987@yandex.ru
R. V. Elnikov
e-mail: elnikov_rv@mail.ru
G. A. Popov
e-mail: riame@sokol.ru
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
L. C. Jain et al. (eds.), Applied Mathematics and Computational Mechanics for Smart
Applications, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 217,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4826-4_11
141
Application of Low-Power Pulse Plasma
Thrusters in Thrust Units of Small
Spacecrafts
Aleksander V. Bogatiy , Grigory A. Dyakonov , Roman V. Elnikov ,
and Garri A. Popov
Abstract The chapter considers the current state of work on flight models of pulsed
plasma propulsion systems. It is shown that the primary application area for propulsion systems based on an ablative pulsed plasma thruster is the station-keeping of
small spacecraft with the power of supply system of up to 100 W and with an active
lifetime in a range from 1 to 10 years in low Earth orbits with altitudes in a range from
400 to 700 km. It is also shown that ablative pulsed plasma thrusters can be efficiently
used to solve the problems of accurate attitude control and angular stabilization of
spacecraft.
11.1 Introduction
Currently, SpaceCraft (SC) with a mass of 10–1000 kg belonging to the class of Small
SC (SSC). The development of new electronic and optical technologies allows us to
fundamentally change the appearance and capabilities of SSC. Thus, at present SSC
with a mass of up to 100 kg can often have a payload with characteristics comparable
to those of a large spacecraft [1].
SSC can quite efficiently solve such urgent tasks as remote Earth sensing, navigation, mapping, communications, especially if they are combined into orbital systems,
including two or more spacecraft with optoelectronic, radar, and other equipment that
A. V. Bogatiy (B) · G. A. Dyakonov · R. V. Elnikov · G. A. Popov
Research Institute of Applied Mechanics and Electrodynamics of the Moscow Aviation, Institute
(RIAME MAI), 5 Leningradskoye schosse, Moscow 125080, Russian Federation
e-mail: boga-alex@yandex.ru
G. A. Dyakonov
e-mail: grigory987@yandex.ru
R. V. Elnikov
e-mail: elnikov_rv@mail.ru
G. A. Popov
e-mail: riame@sokol.ru
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
L. C. Jain et al. (eds.), Applied Mathematics and Computational Mechanics for Smart
Applications, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 217,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4826-4_11
141