SITAEL's proprietary Electric Propulsion product line, spanning Hall Effect Thrusters, Magneto Plasma Dynamic thrusters, cathodes, and dedicated power units, supported by in-house vacuum test facilities.
Electric Propulsion
SITAEL's proprietary Electric Propulsion product line, spanning Hall Effect Thrusters, Magneto Plasma Dynamic thrusters, cathodes, and dedicated power units, supported by in-house vacuum test facilities.
Description
SITAEL develops a proprietary range of Electric Propulsion systems based on innovative technologies, covering Hall Effect Thrusters from low to high power, along with the associated power supply and propellant management subsystems. SITAEL states it is one of the few companies worldwide with development and qualification capabilities for complete Electric Propulsion systems and related diagnostics. Hall Effect Thrusters (HET) are described as the technology of choice for large GEO telecom and other medium/high ΔV missions, and are gaining acceptance for LEO applications; thanks to high specific impulse and proven reliability they are also used for space exploration, citing ESA's SMART-1 mission. These thrusters operate with satisfactory efficiencies over a power range from around 100 W up to tens of kW. SITAEL also has over 30 years of experience manufacturing and testing Magneto Plasma Dynamic (MPD) thrusters, offering high power solutions from a few hundred kW up to the multi-MW level for future exploration programmes. The company is engaged in in-house design and development of reliable, flexible cathodes as plasma sources for different electric propulsion systems. Over the past 20 years SITAEL has developed Electric Propulsion avionics, focusing on High Voltage Power Supplies (HVPS) and Power and Processing Units (PPU) for low and high power HETs; its main current products are a 300W PPU and a 5kW PPU, successfully coupled respectively with SITAEL's HT 100 / HT 400 and HT 5k thrusters. To support this product line, SITAEL operates 15 vacuum, thermal vacuum and ultra-high vacuum chambers ranging from 20 cm up to 6 m in internal diameter, used for testing and R&D activities for both internal projects and external customers.
Specifications
| Hall effect thruster power range | ~100 W up to tens of kW |
|---|---|
| Hall effect thruster flight heritage | ESA SMART-1 (space exploration mission) |
| Mpd thruster power range | a few hundred kW up to multi-MW level |
| Mpd thruster experience | Over 30 years of manufacturing and testing |
| Low power PPU | 300 W PPU, coupled with HT 100 / HT 400 thrusters |
| High power PPU | 5 kW PPU, coupled with HT 5k thruster |
| Number of vacuum chambers | 15 |
| Vacuum chamber internal diameter range | 20 cm up to 6 m |
| Vacuum chamber types | Vacuum, thermal vacuum, and ultra-high vacuum chambers |
