Design of a 3-D Printed Unified Hybrid Motor

Nanoscale satellites have emerged as an area of interest to a variety of entities. Due to their small volume and weight, nanoscale satellites can easily travel as secondary payloads on a launch vehicle, but they are typically limited in orbit selection due to the target orbit of the primary payload. This orbit selection limitation can be mitigated through the addition of a propulsion system to a nanoscale satellite. This paper details the design analysis of a printed hybrid thruster for use in a nanoscale satellite propulsion module. The thruster design uses nitrous oxide and a nylon based fuel propellant combination. The analysis predicts an average thrust of 65 N and a specific impulse of 217 s for the thruster. Future work will include experimental testing at the University of Alabama in Huntsville Propulsion Research Center to provide validation of the analysis for use in design of a propulsion module.