Development and Testing of a 4500 Watt Flight Type Hall Thruster and Cathode

* Presented as Paper IEPC-01-011 at the 27 International Electric Propulsion Conference, Pasadena, CA, 15-19 October, 2001. † Copyright  2001 by General Dynamics Space Propulsion Systems. Published by the Electric Rocket Propulsion Society with permission. A flight design BPT-4000 Hall thruster has been completed and two engineering model thrusters built and tested. The thruster development effort is part of a Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) and General Dynamics Space Propulsion Systems (GD-SPS) funded program to develop a Hall Thruster Propulsion System (HTPS) for use on geosynchronous satellites. The thruster is a high performance, dual-mode capable design enabling both a high thrust/power and a high specific impulse.