The CU Aerospace (CUA) Fiber-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster (FPPT) system is a pulsed plasma thruster that uses PTFE fiber as propellant. This approach enables CUA to provide competitive ΔV to CubeSat and small satellite customers at a substantially lower cost and risk profile than traditional liquid or gaseous propulsion systems that use valves and pressure vessels. In a 1.1U form factor, FPPT provides a peak total impulse of 5,500 N-s, a peak continuous thrust of 0.38 mN at 48 W to the power processing unit (PPU), or a peak maximum specific impulse of 2,400 seconds. The design incorporates 16 J capacitor bank energy storage unit (ESU) modules to trade propellant volume for performance. Presently, FPPT is in the later stages of development on a NASA Phase II SBIR program.

TYPICAL OPERATION AND INTERFACE

FPPT starts immediately without warmup and mechanically feeds PTFE propellant fiber from a non-rotating spool through the anode where it is subjected to a pulsed discharge and electromagnetically accelerated to provide thrust. Varied power, thrust, mass flow rate, and resultant specific impulse levels are user-selectable by adjusting propellant feed rate, pulse rate, and optionally adjustable bank voltage.

Developmental 1.1U FPPT system interface:

• Unregulated bus battery voltage to PPU
• I2C communication protocol (other options available on request) for all thruster control and feedback
• Mounting interface designed for typical CubeSat structure via external enclosure adaptable to customer requirements