Magnetically Enhanced Vacuum Arc Thruster (MVAT)

*The Magnetically Enhanced Vacuum Arc Thruster (MVAT) is a solid propellant microthruster that can produce precisely controlled impulse bits. The MVAT is a variant on an earlier thruster (Vacuum Arc Thruster (VAT)). The VAT is a low mass (~500g), high efficiency (~10% measured) and high specific impulse (Isp ~ 1000-3000s) electric propulsion system. By adapting the technology of the vacuum arc thruster and combining with it an external axial magnetic field on the order of 0.1 Tesla, we have developed a thruster that has been shown to provide up to 50% higher thrust-to-power ratio than a conventional vacuum arc thruster. Also, the applied magnetic field can control the plasma plume produced by the thruster and therefore decrease contamination of adjacent optics and sensors on the spacecraft. Such a thruster would be well suited to provide precision control for small, power limited spacecraft for guidance, navigation and control (GN&C) applications.