The rising deployment numbers of electric propulsion systems and the increased price of
noble gas propellants have created the demand for alternative propellants. Iodine is a very …

Carbon dioxide (CO 2) is an attractive candidate for condensable propellants because its
availability and storability. Although several studies have been reported on adopting CO 2 …

This study presents the first experimental demonstration of a Hall Effect Thruster operating
with water electrolysis-derived constituents: oxygen for the anode (thruster) and hydrogen …

Air-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP) refers to a spacecraft in very-low Earth orbit (VLEO)
harnessing upper atmospheric air as propellant for an electric thruster. This allows the …

A modular radio frequency plasma cathode has been designed to assess the sensitivity of
performance to several geometric parameters, operating conditions, and propellants. The …

A computational study of the inception of positive wire-cylinder corona discharges in low-
pressure air in crossed electric and magnetic fields is performed. The inception voltages are …

The Air-breathing Microwave Plasma CAThode (AMPCAT) has been developed for air-
breathing electric propulsion in very-low Earth orbit. In this study, the standalone AMPCAT …

This letter describes the mechanism of self-neutralization of positive ion charge extracted
from an air-breathing plasma thruster. Experimental observations and kinetic simulations …