With the development of microspacecraft, the field of electrical micropropulsion is a rapidly
expanding discipline. New ideas are being explored constantly and a review of the current …

The successful miniaturization of many spacecraft subsystems make CubeSats attractive
candidates for evermore-demanding scientific missions. A three-cell CubeSat employing the …

THE age of space exploration using self-propelled small spacecraft is approaching. In the
past decade, research and development of small spacecraft have advanced extensively …

Abstract At Peking University (PKU), a miniaturized 2.45 GHz antenna permanent magnet
electron cyclotron resonance (PMECR) ion source, capable of generating a several-mA H+ …

In a 2.45 GHz electron cyclotron resonance xenon ion source powered with circular plate-
antenna, a rapid evolution of radial plasma-profile with discharge power in a region below …

To understand the plasma evolution mechanism of microwave ion source (MIS), a hybrid
discharge heating (HDH) mode is proposed. That mode contains two parts: ignition …

This paper reports on the development of a method for measuring xenon plasma properties
using the laser Thomson scattering technique, for application to ion engine system design …

ION engines have been used in a number of space missions, including Deep Space 1 [1],
Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE)[2], Hayabusa [3] and …

Space-based gravitational wave detection missions require precise thrusts over a wide-
range of 1–100 μN. In this study, the axial ring-cusp magnetic field configuration is used to …

Plasma and aerodynamic features have been investigated for a microplasma thruster of
electrothermal type using azimuthally symmetric microwave-excited microplasmas. The …