QinetiQ Electric Propulsion Gridded Ion Thruster developments Kevin Hall EPIC Madrid, Spain 24 th & 25 th October, 2017
QinetiQ Introduction QinetiQ employs over 6,000 experts in the fields of defence, aerospace, maritime, space and various other related markets. 5 Major UK Sites: Farnborough, Boscombe Down, Malvern, Portsdown Hill & Haslar International : USA, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Sweden QinetiQ Space, UK Farnborough, UK Integration Facilities & Cleanrooms Test facilities QinetiQ Space, Belgium Kruibeke, Belgium Integration Facilities & Cleanrooms QinetiQ Space Ground Station Redu, Belgium ESA satellite ground station Jointly operated with SES Astra 2
QinetiQ Space Satellites & Platforms Payloads Subsystems Equipment Downstream services Small satellite bus End-to-end mission solutions Microgravity research Planetary exploration Earth observation On-board computers Data & Power Management Units Docking / Berthing Mechanisms Satellite Operations Integrated Applications Frequency Monitoring Metrology Electrical Propulsion Communication Transponders Penetrator Technology GIS applications & services Secure Navigation 3 3
QinetiQ Electric Propulsion In development at QinetiQ Farnborough since late 1960s. - One of a few centres around the world Cathode development Artemis GOCE BepiColombo Hollow cathode technology Cathodes for T5, T6, HETs Emission currents up to 50A ESA Telecoms Satellite T5 Cathodes for UK10 thrusters T5 Grid Assembly for UK10 thrusters ESA low orbit mission Two T5 thrusters >36000 hrs operation (on single thruster) ESA mission to Mercury QinetiQ EP System Four T6 thrusters Flight system delivered 4 4
QinetiQ Gridded Ion Engines (GIEs) Primary Advantages of GIEs High fuel efficiency: Specific impulse (I sp ) ~ 4000s [Typ. 10x efficiency of chemical propulsion] - Lower propellant consumption enables Lower Launch Mass / Larger Payload / Longer Life (or combination thereof) Wide operating envelope (power versus specific impulse versus thrust) Specific impulse can be traded to provide higher thrust, for a given power. Wide throttling range optimises use of available power over mission Narrow beam divergence (15 o half cone) - Reduces plume impingement / eases accommodation 5 5
QinetiQ T6 Performance Map - Performance map illustrates wide operating envelope & throttling range 6 6
QinetiQ Kaufman Gridded Ion Engines T5: 700 W class thruster 10 cm active grid area Thrust capability <1 25 mn Grid set can be optimised for different thrust ranges High Isp >3000s > 3MNs Mass 2.5 kg (excl. alignment bracket) T6: 5 kw class thruster 22 cm active grid area Thrust capability 30mN to 230 mn Grid set can be optimised for different thrust ranges High Isp >4000s > 13MNs Mass 8.3 kg 7 H2020 EPIC (GIESEPP) enabling QinetiQ to industrialise the GOCE T5 thruster to improve competitiveness as a recurring product.
QinetiQ Ring Cusp Gridded Ion Engine T7 5 to 7 kw class Gridded Ion Thruster Thrust capability up to 290 mn Grid set can be optimised for different thrust ranges High Isp: ~3000s to ~4000s Dual Mode operation: Variable power/thrust ratio: 31 W/mN to 24 W/mN 8
QinetiQ Ring Cusp Gridded Ion Engine T7 H2020 EPIC (GIESEPP) is enabling QinetiQ to develop a Ring Cusp variant of its Gridded Ion Engine technology - improving performance and reducing cost to meet market needs. Improving competitiveness Adoption of a Ring Cusp discharge chamber configuration Improves electrical efficiency over the T6 s Kaufman configuration Cost reduction Simpler Thruster design Simpler PPU design Incremental Development Shares many design features with T6 thruster: 9 Such as Neutraliser and Main Discharge hollow cathodes Maintaining same max. beam voltage a key design driver Enables proven design solutions to carry over directly from T6 to T7. Vast majority of materials and processes remain the same as T6
Market / Application Deep Space Missions EP Function Primary propulsion (established) EP Supplier Market High Isp of Gidded Ion Engines dominates, as demonstrated by NASA Deep Space 1: NSTAR Ring-Cusp GIE NASA DAWN: NSTAR Ring-Cusp GIE ESA/JAXA Bepi Colombo: QinetiQ T6 Kaufman GIE JAXA Hayabusa 1 & 2 Ion Thrusters GIE ESA SMART-1 (shorter range lunar mission) utilised PPS1350 HET The high delta-v requirements for such missions means the use of GIEs will continue. Moreover, EP is expected to be adopted on more such missions going forward. With H2020 EPIC (GIESEPP) QinetiQ is developing Dual Mode (Isp) means the full capability of the T7 is available to the mission designers, providing greater operational flexibility in planning, but also in-flight to optimise actual mission as it progresses. T7 Ring Cusp thruster offering increased performance capability (lifetime / power / thrust) Common product for commercial & institutional customers, all benefiting from volume cost benefits and common heritage. T5 industrialisation, means that it is also available for such mission exploiting smaller spacecraft and/or lower levels of power available further out in the solar system. 10 10
Market / Application Geo Telecoms Satellites EP Function North-South Station-Keeping (established) North-South Station-Keeping PLUS Orbit raising (now being adopted) EP Supplier Market To date, dominated by 2 thruster suppliers - HETs Fakel HETs [Russia] ~57% EP thruster in flight - GIEs L3 Comms* [USA] ~34% EP thruster in flight * exclusively to Boeing No major shift in types of EP technologies being flown to cover both functions Boeing = GIEs Others = HETs (noting, with trend moving away from Fakel) HETs v GIE With H2020 EPIC (GIESEPP) QinetiQ is developing For the available power: HETs ~2x Thrust of GIEs Approx. 18 W/mN GIEs ~2x fuel efficiency of HETs Approx. 32 W/mN GIEs beneficial for NSSK over the operational mission (~15 years) HETs beneficial for orbit raising duration (3 to 6 months) Ultimately a trade-off: cost of time to orbit v propellant mass savings Dual Mode (Isp) T7 to provide a higher thrust mode to reduce the time to orbit (~24W/mN), whilst retaining the high fuel efficiency for station keeping over the operation mission T7 Ring Cusp thruster offering a lower cost product, & increased performance capability (lifetime / power / thrust) 11 11
Market / Application In-Orbit Servicing of Geo Telecoms Satellites (i.e. mission extension; end-of-life deorbiting; potentially in orbit refuelling also) EP Function North-South Station-Keeping PLUS Orbit transfer (New emerging) With H2020 EPIC (GIESEPP) QinetiQ is developing EP Supplier Market Enabled by Electric Propulsion Demonstrator missions are being built and in planning. E.g. Orbital ATK s MEV (customer, Intelsat) Orbit transfer times not expected to be significant a driver as target satellites are already on-station and operating. Getting the most delta-v capacity out of such a servicing vehicle will favour GIEs Exploited either as single mission or multiple missions T7 Ring Cusp thruster offering a lower cost product and increased performance capability (lifetime / power / thrust) to enable the customer to get the most operational life out of the vehicle. Dual Mode (Isp) T7 means the full capability of the T7 is available to the mission designers, providing greater operational flexibility in planning, but also in-flight to optimise actual mission as it progresses. T5 industrialisation, means that it is also available for such in-orbit servicing vehicles based on smaller platforms 12 12
Market / Application LEO Small Satellites EP Function Primary propulsion (New emerging) EP Supplier Market Traditionally EP benefits versus chemical, come into their own with larger spacecraft. However, EP offers a variety of mission enabling advantages to mission / spacecraft designers. Example: ESA GOCE mission utilising QinetiQ s T5 thrusters for fine, variable and continuous drag compensation. A variety of small satellite mission studies are in progress or in planning that are looking to exploit the use of EP. (e.g. NGGM) With H2020 EPIC (GIESEPP) QinetiQ is developing T5 industrialisation is reducing the recurring cost of the thruster to improve competitiveness and enable new mission based on smaller lower cost platforms 13 13
Conclusions Market for Electric Propulsion technology is increasing Increasing uptake in the traditional GEO telecom satellite market, as well as for orbit raising function. Adoption for satellite constellations Continued use for interplanetary missions Enabling new applications such as space transportation, in-orbit servicing and new/novel LEO application. GIEs, such as QinetiQ s T-series, offer the greatest fuel efficiency options to customers Industrialisation is driving costs down, from its science applications heritage (bespoke, one-off, high-performance) H2020 EPIC is realising.. incremental changes to QinetiQ s proven technology to improve competitiveness in global market 1. T5 Industrialisation to improve competitiveness: From 1-off flight proven heritage, to low cost recurring product. 2. Adopting Ring Cusp configuration into T7 product to improve competitiveness (performance & lower cost) 3. Introducing dual-mode functionality to enable full access to T7 s (or T6 s) operational envelope. a) Providing mission/platform designers with greater operational flexibility b) Providing spacecraft operators greater operational flexibility in-flight to optimise mission c) Meet a broad set of market requirements with single set of product building blocks in turn offering customers mutual benefit from recurring volume costs and common product heritage 14
COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE 15 COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE