Design and experimental studies of power source of arcjet thrusters for corrective propulsion systems of small spacecraft

Abstract

The article describes a power source designed for arcjet thrusters of corrective propulsion systems of small spacecraft. The source is galvanically isolated and provides high energy efficiency at a consistent load. The design contains a push-pull converter with a midpoint, which is covered by the feedback circuit for the output current. The inductance connected in series in the circuit smoothes the current pulsations generated by a pulsewidth modulator. The absence of a storage capacitor in the output circuit allowed for a quick response to adjust the pulse width in accordance with changes in load resistance. The results of the experiments confirmed the theoretical calculation and simulation. In the current stabilization mode, the source output power is 40– 120 W with an input voltage of 12–18V.

Keywords

• pulse-width modulation
• power electronics
• arcjet thrusters
• push-pull converter
• chaotic pulse-width modulation
• arc discharge