AD ASTRA ROCKET CO

PHASE II SEQUENTIAL SBIR 80NSSC25C0436 TECHNOLOGY MATURATION OF THE VASIMR ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEM

SBIR PHASE II- IMPROVED DESIGN OF THE VASIMR RADIO FREQUENCY TRANSMISSION LINE

SBIR PHASE I: IMPROVED DESIGN OF THE VASIMR RADIO FREQUENCY TRANSMISSION LINE

FY23 SBIR PHASE II - IMPROVED THERMO- MECHANICAL DESIGN OF THE VASIMR RF COUPLER

NASA BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT AWARD NNH15ZCQ001K. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS WORK ARE TO DEMONSTRATE AND MEASURE KEY TECHNICAL FUNCTIONS AND PARAMETERS RELEVANT TO NASA. AD ASTRAS WELL DEMONSTRATED EXPERIMENTAL AND ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES WILL BE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT. AD ASTRA WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FOLLOWING POWER. AD ASTRA WILL PERFORM OPERATIONAL THERMAL STEADY STATE TESTS IN A DESIGN THAT IS EFFICIENT AND EXTENSIBLE TO CONTINUOUS OPERATIONS PER THRUSTER. TRL 5 PPUS. AD ASTRA WILL USE EXISTING TRL5 RADIO FREQUENCY GENERATORS (RF PPUS) THAT WERE DEVELOPED AND BUILT BY NAUTEL LTD AND PROVEN IN VX 200 TESTING. THESE PPUS ARE RATED FOR STEADY STATE OPERATION, HAVE ALREADY DEMONSTRATED A COMBINED EFFICIENCY PERCENTAGE AND A SPECIFIC MASS. LIFETIME. AD ASTRA WILL CARRY OUT 100 HOURS CONTINUOUS LIFETIME TESTING FOR THE FULL 100 HOURS AT FULL THERMAL STEADY STATE. AD ASTRA WILL PERFORM EROSION MEASUREMENTS AT THE END OF THE TEST WITH A PRECISION GOAL SUFFICIENT TO EXTRAPOLATE OPERATIONAL (THRUSTING) LIFETIME TO A NUMBER OF HOURS. PERFORMANCE. AD ASTRA WILL MEASURE ROCKET PERFORMANCE USING VX 200 PEER REVIEWED PUBLISHED TECHNIQUES IN EACH PHASE OF THE PROJECT. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS MADE DURING LONG DURATION STEADY STATE OPERATIONS DRIVE COST. EXCLUDING THE LABORATORY SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNET COOLING POWER, AD ASTRA WILL VERIFY A SYSTEM EFFICIENCY GOAL OF GREATER THAN 60 PERCENT, INCLUDING THE RF PPUS, AT A SPECIFIC IMPULSE OF INTEREST USING ARGON PROPELLANT. AD ASTRA WILL ALSO CARRY OUT VARIABLE SPECIFIC IMPULSE TESTING WITHIN A RANGE. THESE TESTS WILL ALLOW TRL 6 DESIGNS THAT WILL ACHIEVE TOTAL SYSTEM EFFICIENCY GREATER THAN 60 PERCENT IN THE SPECIFIC IMPULSE RANGE OF 2000 S TO 5000 S USING HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH ARGON AND KRYPTON PROPELLANTS.