MUSIC Electric Propulsion System
aliena
Multi-stage Hall thruster with three operating modes covering 0.1 to 3 mN of thrust and 200 to 1000 s Isp in 1.5U or 4U form factors, flown since 2022.
Technical specifications
- Type
- Multi-stage Hall thruster, modular design
- Self-ignition mode
- 1.5U form factor, < 20 W, up to 0.25 mN, up to 200 s, 1 kNs total impulse, 2 kg wet mass, nanosatellites
- Hot mode
- 4U form factor, < 100 W, ~3 mN, ~1000 s, 15 kNs total impulse, 5 kg wet mass, microsatellites
- Dual mode / fault-tolerant
- 4U form factor, < 100 W, 0.1 to 3 mN, 200 to 1000 s, 15 kNs total impulse, 5 kg wet mass, microsatellites
- Fuel
- Xe / Kr gas
- Total impulse note
- Quoted with Xe (configurable)
- Flight heritage
- Self-ignition on a 3U nanosatellite January 2022; MUSIC-HM on a 12U satellite July 2023
About
MUSIC Electric Propulsion System offers a modular architecture that allows for the widest dynamic range of thrust and specific impulse for such a system available on the market today. With three modes of operation, MUSIC can provide thrust ranging from as low as 0.1 mN to as high as 3 mN, with a total impulse up to 15 kNs within a 4U form factor.
Self-ignition mode provides unprecedented low-power consumption and instant ignition, without hot stand-by, for a Hall thruster. Aliena deployed this technology on a 3U nanosatellite in January 2022.
Hot mode uses Aliena’s low-current hollow cathode technology, which allows reliable high thrust and high specific impulse operation at sub-100 W. MUSIC-HM was deployed in space on a 12U satellite in July 2023.
Dual mode operation integrates both the self-ignition technology and the hollow cathode, making MUSIC the Hall thruster with the widest dynamic thrust range and a fault tolerant system that can ignite on demand.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.