Development of Xenon Feed System for a Hall-Effect Thruster to Space-propulsion Applications

A Xenon Feed System (XFS) has been developed for hall-effect thruster to small satellite space-propulsion system applications. The XFS delivers low pressure gas to the Anode and Cathode of thruster head unit from a xenon storage tank. Accurate throttling of the propellant mass flow rate is independently required for each channel of the thruster head unit. The mass flow rate to each channel is controlled using the accumulator tank pressure regulation through a micron orifice and isolation valve. This paper discusses the Xenon Feed System design including the component selections, performance estimation and functional test.