Operating mode investigation of a Laboratory Stationary Plasma Thruster

A custom designed SPTIOO thruster has been tested with two gases, Xe and fi, over a wide range of working conditions at constant gm flow. Four discharge voltages have been investigated>om IO0 up to 400V and magnetic coil currents porn 2.7 up to 6.3A for Xe and 4.5A for Kr. Thrust as weII as discharge current have been measured. Thus specajk impulse, Ispr and thruster ejgiciency, Efl, have been deduced and anaIyzed with respect to discharge working modes for Xe. An outstanding working conditions which gives a 105mN thrust, an Isp of 1985s and an EfJ: of 58% of have been pointed out for high magnetic j?eld strength. Results obtained using fi gas are close to Xe ones. At 35OK with pure Kr, a 8OmN thrust and 1500s Isp at weaker gas jlow are achieved. Pressure testing have demonstrated PIVOINE ability for such a class of thruster ground testing.