Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Technology Development Department, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Dept. of Space Navigation System, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
JAXA Special Publication: Report on Research Achievements for FY2006 Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Institute of Aerospace Technology, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
巻
JAXA-SP-06-006
ページ
281 - 284
発行年
2006-11-01
抄録(英)
In recent days, the propulsion subsystem of spacecraft is required to achieve higher reliability and performance simultaneously. The performance of thrusters has a great impact to the weight budget of the propulsion subsystem, because high performance thruster can reduce the quantity of propellant by high-temperature combustion. If the Thruster improves performance, the spacecraft can save the weight. Ceramics is one of the most promising materials for the spacecraft on-board thrusters because of their superior performance on heat resistance. However they are brittle, and thus they have not been used in the real flight missions so far. It might be fractured due to mechanical vibration at launch, thermal shock at firing, or by collision of space debris. This paper summarizes the status of development, in which a prototype 500 N bipropellant thruster made of Si-based monolithic ceramic has been developed.