A New State-of-The-Art in AF-M315E Thruster Technologies

Aerojet’s more than fifteen years of applied research in hydroxyl ammonium nitrate (HAN)-based monopropellants has yielded substantial progress in the development of advanced monopropellant technology-specific design, analysis, and test techniques , spanning 0.4 N to 650 N thrust, both direct thrust and plenum-based systems, and chamber pressures ranging from 5.2 bar to 92 bar (75 psia to >1330 psia). These efforts have culminated in recent breakthroughs yielding stable thrusters with fifteenfold increased operational life compared to the state-of-the-art just two years ago. Demonstrated firings of a 1-N class thruster of up to 11.5 hrs cumulative duration using AF-M315E ionic liquid monopropellant now well exceed IHPRPT Phase II performance goals. Further development and test efforts have demonstrated robust stability and sufficient thrust-density for either scale-up to severalhundred Newtons thrust or miniaturization for nanosatellite applications. With a complete set of relevant material systems now proven in test, all technical requirements are now met to support the development of a wide range of practical devices meeting broad mission needs.