ESA promotes a new phase of development of the helicon plasma engine of SENER and UC3M
ESA promotes a new phase of development of the helicon plasma engine of SENER and UC3M
ESA promotes a new phase of development of the helicon plasma engine of SENER and UC3M
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a contract with the engineering and technology group SENER to expand the work of developing one of its innovations in space propulsion, the helicon plasma engine (HPT, for its acronym in English), devised in the framework of a joint R & D project with the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) (Spain).
Thanks to this contract, which involves an injection of capital for the project, the HPT team, composed of professionals from SENER and UC3M, will develop an engineering model to qualify the system prior to its eventual demonstration in flight. which could take place in 2022.
So far, SENER and UC3M have developed a prototype of the helicon plasma engine, the first ignition of which was carried out at ESA's Electrical Propulsion Laboratory at the end of 2015. After this first ignition, new design evolutions have been made. they have been tested in the facilities of UC3M and will be reflected in this new engineering model that SENER and UC3M are already preparing, thanks to the ESA contract.
The helicon plasma engine is a new technology of electric propulsion for space that can be a competitive alternative to the engines used today and that awakens, therefore, the interest of companies and institutions, including ESA.
HPT motor in the vacuum chamber. (Credit: SENER)
The HPT engine consists of an antenna that emits radiofrequency waves inside a cylindrical chamber where hot plasma is generated and a magnetic nozzle that supersonicly accelerates said plasma. It is a device without grids, electrodes or solid nozzles, which provides great advantages in terms of simplicity of operation and prolongation of the useful life.
When dealing with electric propulsion, the helicon plasma engine uses less propellant than a chemical rocket engine, which reduces the launch costs of the satellites or, for the same price, increases its payload capacity. At the same time, it is expected to present greater thrust capacity per unit of power than other electrical systems such as ion engines and Hall engines, shortening travel times.
In this way, these engines can offer optimum levels of propulsive performance for certain space missions, especially those that use fully electric vehicles. Given the current trends, which are oriented towards such vehicles, a wide range of missions could benefit from this new technology: in the short term, telecommunications satellites operating in geostationary orbits, as well as satellites in low Earth orbit and constellations in medium Earth orbit. And, in the future, more powerful versions of the HPT could be used for manned missions to Mars, service platforms in orbit (such as the 'Space Tug' project) or cargo vehicles between Earth and the Moon, as well as future programs for removal of space debris or refueling in space. (Source: UC3M)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTkebWMBLpQ?wmode=transparent&jqoemcache=0SQ7X]
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