Feastibility study and comparative study of air breathing electric propulsion systems operating in very low Earth orbit conditions

Abstract

Air Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) systems offer a promising solution to extending the lifetime of Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) missions by using residual atmospheric particles as a propellant. ABEP systems need to provide sufficient thrust to compensate for substantial aerodynamic drag present in VLEO environments. The feasibility of operating a hypothetical ABEP system of a given geometry at a given altitude is assessed via Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) based on the following parameters: the mean pressure in the ionization chamber, compression factor and drag force acting upon the surface of the given geometry. Atmospheric models were used for reference to ensure realistic VLEO-like conditions. The comparative study is performed using a Global Plasma Model (GPM). A GPM can calculate the volume-averaged quantities of plasma systems with complex physics and reaction kinetics. The results of GPM are compared with a breadboard model of an Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ABEP system constructed by the Czech aerospace research institute (VZLU a.s.).