QinetiQ to design and test ion propulsion engines

Citation

(2003), "QinetiQ to design and test ion propulsion engines", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 75 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2003.12775dab.026

QinetiQ to design and test ion propulsion engines

QinetiQ to design and test ion propulsion engines

Keywords: QinetiQ, Propulsion, Engines

QinetiQ has been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to improve the performance of Ion Optic Systems (IOS) in gridded ion engines (advanced engines that are ideal for deep space exploration due to their exceptional low fuel consumption).

Part of this work is to demonstrate the suitability of the IOS for future commercial and scientific applications. These comprise station keeping and orbit raising for geostationary earth orbit programmes and the ESA's BepiColombo mission to Mercury.

This research contract will build on QinetiQ's powerful T6 ion engines and its exceptional development and test capabilities. Having been extensively tested and proven for 3,000 h, the new tests will run the gridded ion engines for an additional 3,000 h – proving the engines to 6,000 h – in preparation for the BepiColombo mission (approximately half the mission time).

Leading a consortium of companies, QinetiQ is responsible for IOS design, development and manufacture. It has proven experience in IOS design for both small and large diameter ion thrusters, and a detailed understanding of the product lifecycle. Another party involved in the programme is Italy-based Alta, which is involved in the testing of the engines in its cryogenic vacuum facilities.

"The significant cost and risk reduction gained by the exploitation of existing technologies and ongoing development programmes, both scientific and commercial, is a key feature of our proposal," said Huw Simpson, Senior Engineer, Ion Propulsion at QinetiQ. "QinetiQ has established a solid reputation for its ion engine capabilities with the selection of its T5 gridded ion engines for the Global Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission. QinetiQ is in discussions with several significant potential customers for the T6 engines".

QinetiQ is also about to reach a major milestone in the BepiColumbo mission with the testing of two ion thrusters in its large European electric propulsion test facility.

The ion thrusters (22 cm in size) are to be operated simultaneously to monitor the interactions between the thrusters. This test will prove that two large ion thrusters can be operated in close proximity without adverse effects and demonstrate the ability of the ion thrusters to meet the requirements laid down in the BepiColombo definition study.

In addition, during this test, a single thruster will be operated in simulated Mercury temperatures to investigate the issues of operating at these elevated temperatures (up to 600°C).