Mariella Creaghan, Orland Lamce, and Cody Slater

14 October 2015

Six-Axis Monopropellant Propulsion

System for Pico-Satellites

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Overview

• Background

• Spacecraft Capabilities

• Thruster System Design

• Ground Support Equipment

• Results

• Conclusion

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A Wide Variety of Satellites

Size

International

Space Station

419,455 kg

Hubble Space

Telescope

11,110 kg

Voyager 1 & 2

733 kg

“Small” Satellites

< 500 kg

Images provided by nasa.gov

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Small Satellite Categories

Pico

(<1 Kg)

Nano

(1-10 kg)

Micro

(10-100 kg)

Mini

(100-500 kg)

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0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

La

un

ch

C

ou

nt

Year

1 to 50 kg Satellite Launches

Projected Launches

Historical DataData from SpaceWorks 2014 Market Research Assessment

The Small Satellite Revolution

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Monopropellant

Thruster

Cold Gas

Thruster

Reaction

Wheels

Laboratory’s Approach to Propulsion

Exhaust Thrust

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Overview

• Background

• Spacecraft Capabilities

• Thruster System Design

• Ground Support Equipment

• Results

• Conclusion

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System Concept

Notional Thrust

Block

Dual Manifold

Central Feeds

Honeycomb

Mounting Shelf

Triad Valve

Arrangement

Cylindrical Fuel Tank

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Propellant Selection

Hydrogen peroxide provides most versatile, economic performance for immediate

space flight

Volumetric

Impulse

(kg*s/m^3)

Ground

Infrastructure Test Precautions Attainability Flight Proven

Nitrogen Gas 33,314 Moderate Minimal Easy Often Used

Hydrogen

Peroxide 215,298 Moderate Highly reactive Easy Popular in 1960s

Hydrazine 234,600 Extreme Carcinogenic Moderate Standard

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Picosatellite Propulsion Objectives

Goal: To create an adaptable and reliable propulsion system concept for use in a

wide range of picosatellite geometries.

• Acceleration ~ 1 m/s2

• Slew rate 32 °/s

• Response time < 1 second

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Overview

• Background

• Spacecraft Capabilities

• Thruster System Design

• Ground Support Equipment

• Results

• Conclusion

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1. Ensure the safety of all team members throughout each stage of testing

Objectives

2. Design, fabricate, assemble, and calibrate all manner of required ground support equipment

3. Proof test the integrated component and system performance for functionality 4. Perform empirical experiments to optimize the length of a catalyst bed with a specified geometry 5. Live-fire the complete system and characterize the resulting steady state performance

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• Increases reaction rate

• Pure silver catalyst

• Activation procedure

• Microchannel design

• Maximum surface area

• Length estimated with scaling

• Analytical model started

Catalyst Bed

ΔX

H2O2

H2O

O2

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Nozzle Configuration

AER = 10

Dt = 1.162 mm

L = 3.862 mm

α = 18° Chamber

.776 𝒈

𝒔 689,000 Pa

1219 K

D2 = 3.670 mm

Atmosphere

7,158 Pa

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Thruster Block Design

Thermocouple

Catalyst Bed

Nozzle

H2O2 Flow

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Catalyst Block Design

Flow

Catalyst Bed

Thermocouple

Pressure

Sensor

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Overview

• Background

• Spacecraft Capabilities

• Thruster System Design

• Ground Support Equipment

• Results

• Conclusion

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System Layout

Syringe Pump

Relief

Valve

Pressure

Sensor Loading

Valves

Control

Valve Thrust

Block

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Thrust Stand

Exhaust Thrust Reaction Force

.21 m

x

y

Thrust Block

Torque Sensor

Counter Weight

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Overview

• Background

• Spacecraft Capabilities

• Thruster System Design

• Ground Support Equipment

• Results

• Conclusion

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• Safety Precautions

• Calibrated:

– In-line pressure sensor

– Torque sensor

• Leak Tested:

– Nitrogen gas

– Helium gas

– Water

• Valve Operation Test

System Check and Calibration

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Nitrogen Thrust Testing

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Catalyst Test

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Integrated HTP Thrust Test

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Overview

• Background

• Spacecraft Capabilities

• Thruster System Design

• Ground Support Equipment

• Results

• Conclusion

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1. Safety

2. System setup

3. System proof test

4. Catalyst experiments

5. Integrated system test

Conclusions

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• Catalyst bed exploration

• Interface of flow into catalyst

• Continuation of thrust characterization

• Long term system improvement

Future Work

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• Jesse Mills

• Adam Shabshelowitz

• Kurt Krueger

• Sean Crowley

• Mark Seaver

• Sharon Hardiman

Additional thanks to: Mike Shatz, Dennis Burianek, Marc Brunelle, John Howell, Prof. Gatsonis, Prof. Clancy, Professor Blandino, Jocelyn O’Brien, Gerald Johnson, Andy Kalil, Ted Bloomstein

Acknowledgements

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Questions?

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Backup Slides

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Torque Sensor Calibration

Omega TQ202 Reaction Torque Sensor

0-0.2 N-m range

y = 343.13x + 0.3231 R² = 0.9977

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

-0.001 -0.0005 0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025

Ap

plied

Fo

rce (

N)

Output Voltage (V)

Calibration Curve

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Mounting Plate