Development of Microwave Ion Engine System for MUSES-C Mission

概要

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A 1kW microwave ion engine system is under development in the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science to meet requirements for an asteroid sample return mission of MUSES-C (Mu Space Engineering Spacecraft) which will be launched by M-V launch vehicle in 2002. An 18,000 hour endurance test for an engineering model was finished in 1999, and prototype models were manufactured to be tested through a series of environment tests for qualification and are undergoing a second time endurance test from 2000. The flight model design was already finalized on the basis of prototype model thrust performances and integration specifications. Now almost all the flight models were combined each other to check out their mutual interfaces as well as bus interfaces. This ion engine system constitutes 4 ion thrusters on a radiation panel with a bi-axially movable gimbal mechanism, 4 microwave supplying units, 3 acceleration power processing units, and 1 propellant management unit. The MUSES-C mission requires the IES to generate thrust of about 24 mN for maximum power input of 1,158 W by 3 of the 4 ion thrusters simultaneous operation.
特定非営利活動法人　日本ロケット協会の論文