iodine Fed Advanced Cusp field Thruster for Mid-Power

iFACT-MP (iodine Fed Advanced Cusp field Thruster for Mid-Power) aims to develop an iodine fed thruster subsystem for the 3-5 kW range.

The activity will include work on all the critical building blocks required to enable the realisation of an iodine EP subsystem.

This encompasses the upscaling of the Advanced Cusp Field Thruster (ACFT) to that power range at Airbus Friedrichshafen and the development of the fluidic chain at Airbus Toulouse, consisting of the heated iodine reservoir, piping and flow control for the thruster as well as the neutraliser.

Further, the necessary verification and formalisation of the fluidic design and iodine handling procedures will be performed to enable the implementation and integration of iodine EP subsystems on platform level. A major building block required to enable a completely iodine based EP chain is an iodine fed neutraliser.

For this purpose, further improvements and modifications on C12A7 emitter ceramics will be performed by Fraunhofer IKTS, in close collaboration with the iodine cathode development at Airbus.

To validate the necessary control and operational schemes, a breadboard PPU will be developed by Airbus Elancourt that includes all the required supplies, telemetry and functionalities to enable autonomous control of the thruster subsystem.

To enable rapid and accurate characterisation of the developed thruster subsystem's performance, an optical iodine flow meter will be developed and integrated by University of Pisa.

As currently no test facility exists to perform thruster testing at that power level, a suitable iodine compatible vacuum chamber including a thrust balance and diagnostics will be developed at Aerospazio. This facility will enable full characterisation and 500 h endurance testing of the developed thruster subsystem.

To maximise the impact of the project, EASN will coordinate the public presence and communication, dissemination and exploitation activities.