Performance Test Results for the Laser-Powered Microthruster
- Photonic Associates LLC, 200A Ojo de la Vaca Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508 (United States)
- NMT/IERA, 901 University Blvd, Albuquerque, NM, 87106 (United States)
Microthrusters are useful for orienting and repositioning small craft above the atmosphere. We report technical results obtained during a successful 5-year program to develop a commercially-viable laser-powered microthruster. Its main advantage is the ability to generate a broad thrust range under programmable electronic control with minimal electrical power. The device applies millisecond-duration diode-laser pulses to a fuel tape to produce an ablation jet. By employing laser-initiated energetic polymers in our ablation fuel tapes, we obtained momentum coupling coefficients as large as 3mN/W of incident laser power, giving a continuous thrust range from 50{mu}N to 10mN. With our standard 30m x 8mm fuel tape, fueled thruster mass is 0.5kg and 50N-s lifetime impulse is achieved. With an order-of-magnitude greater fuel mass, the thruster could accomplish re-entry or substantial orbit-raising of a 10-kg microsatellite. In its usual configuration, specific impulse is 200 seconds, and ablation efficiency, the ratio of exhaust kinetic energy to incident laser optical energy is 180%. We compare performance of several laser-initiated micropropellants which we studied, including polyvinyl nitrate (PVN), glycidyl azide polymer (GAP), and nitrocellulose (NC). All were doped with a laser-absorbing component, either carbon nanopearls with 10nm mean diameter or dyes tuned to the 920-nm laser wavelength but transparent at visible wavelengths. Our demonstrated momentum coupling coefficient is sufficient to levitate a 0.15-kg object with a 500-W laser beam having appropriate characteristics.
- OSTI ID:
- 20800240
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 830, Issue 1; Conference: 4. international symposium on beamed energy propulsion, Nara (Japan), 15-18 Nov 2005; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2203265; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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