Preliminary characterization test of HET and RIT with Nitrogen and Oxygen

The paper deals with the results of two test campaigns carried out at Alta and at Giessen University respectively on Snecma’s PPS1350-TSD Hall thruster and on RIT-10 ion engine for performance characterization with nitrogen and oxygen as propellants. The activity sponsored by the European Space Agency is of particular interest for RAM-EP concept. Both thrusters have operated in stable mode with both propellants, although as expected a degradation of performance has been observed, mainly due to the low ionization efficiency.