BIT-3 RF Ion Thruster
Busek Co.
Compact iodine-fueled gridded RF ion thruster; flown on NASA SLS deep-space CubeSat missions.
Technical specifications
- System Power
- 56-75 W
- Thrust
- Up to 1.1 mN
- Specific Impulse
- Up to 2150 s
- System Dry Mass
- 1.40 kg (with gimbal)
- Delta-V
- Up to 2.39 km/s (14 kg CubeSat)
- Propellant
- Iodine (also compatible with xenon)
- Neutralizer
- BRFC-1 micro RF cathode
- PPU efficiency
- ~90% RF power supply
- Flight heritage
- NASA SLS deep-space CubeSat missions (2021)
About
Busek’s BIT-3 is an iodine-fueled gridded RF ion thruster that flew on deep-space CubeSat missions aboard NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) in 2021. The 56-75 W input propulsion system uses a 2.5 cm diameter grid RF ion thruster with a micro RF cathode (BRFC-1) neutralizer, using an inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) discharge to eliminate the need for an internal hot cathode. Its compatibility with iodine propellant — a drop-in replacement for xenon with over 2x storage density — eliminates the need for high-pressure tanks; a 3,500-hour duration test on iodine has been completed. An optional gimbal enables reaction wheel desaturation as part of the attitude control system.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.
