VASIMR Plasma Drive Hits Rated Power in Bench Test

I've mentioned the technology before, and now it appears that the VASIMR plasma drive has hit a major milestone in the lab. The first stage (helicon) of the system has hit its rated 30 KW power.

Thrust levels are relatively low, though they are high compared to something like Ion, around 10N in low ISP mode, and in the 100mN range in high ISP mode.

The developer of this technology, Ad Astra Rocket Company, hopes to get a space-rated model to the ISS in the next few years to validate performance in space.

Picture pr0n:

Lab picture


VASIMR Space Craft Concept

I believe that the spacecraft shown uses nuclear power for propulsion requirements.

Vasimr Electric Propulsion System Heading Out to ISS

NASA will be sending the variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket (Vasimr) up to the International Space Station (Paid subscription required) for tests and validation. (Earlier posts)

It's expected to put out about 5.7 Netwons, about a pound, with an ISP (fuel economy) of somewhere between 10 and 30 times that of chemical propellants.

While a pound does not seem like much thrust, it's more than enough for station keeping and orbital, or for that matter interplanetary, maneuvering, as you can get the thrust for months, rather than hours, and compared to other electric thrusters systems, like the ion drive used on the Dawn Probe, it provides a lot more thrust. (Dawn has a thrust of only 90mN, about 1/50 that of the Vasimr).

NASA to Test Vasimr On Space Station

NASA will test the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) plasma engine on their space station

It promises something in excess of 40 times the specific impulse (fuel efficiency) of chemical rockets, and its thrust is a lot higher than alternate technologies, something on the order of about 10N (around 2 lbs) as opposed to the millinewton thrust levels of ion engines.

It should be interesting.

Previous posts here.

Neat Tech: Radio Plasma Drive

NASA Ad Astra Ink Second Space Act Agreement in “Vasimr” Engine (subscription required)

NASA is working with Ad Astra Rocket Co. on it's Vasimr engine. It uses radio waves to heat electrically charged fluids to extremely high temperatures for fuel efficiency, controlling the resulting plasmas for thrust and insulating nearby structures with magnetic fields.

ISP appears to be in the 5K-12K seconds range (PDF), or more than 10 to more than 30x that of chemical rockets.

Unlike Ion, it's supposed to support higher thrust levels, on the order of 100+ N, compared to the millinewton levels for Ion drives.

Vasimr Proceeds to Higher Power Tests

30 kw first stage test


VX -200 Prior to entering Test Chamber


In vacuum chamber

The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr) is slated to enter higher power testing. (paid subscription required)

The first stage, a 30kw system, has been successfully tested, and they are now working on a 2^nd stage, which will boost the power of the unit to around 200 kw.

The performance benefits, the ISP (basically fuel economy) is more than 10 times that of chemical rockets, would be very significant if this can be made to work.

For example, it could take the time for a transit to Mars from 180-200 days to about 40 days.

Prior posts here.

I Was Waiting for this Tech to Hit Commercial Use

We have finally seen a the first non-US commercial satellite with all electric propulsion delivered to a customer:

Eutelsat’s new 172B satellite marks a new step in the operator’s push toward widespread use of electric propulsion. Company executives believe all conditions are gradually being met to make such power both a reliable and economical option. There is more than one launcher available for this size spacecraft, a trade-off has been found between efficiency and transfer time to orbit, and an Ariane 6 feature will further reduce time to market.

Mainly thanks to electric propulsion, the weight of 172B has been limited to 3.5 metric tons (7,700 lb.) instead of 6 tons for a more conventional satellite. For that weight class, the lower position under Ariane 5’s fairing had long been the only option for launch, Eutelsat’s chief technology officer Yohann Leroy, notes. Other options that were technically feasible were not economical. Satellite operators are leery about relying on a single launcher, Leroy emphasizes, and that reluctance had stalled the advent of electric propulsion. “SpaceX’s Falcon 9 changed the game,” he says.

As a second launcher became available for the new weight class in commercial communications geostationary satellites, Eutelsat forged ahead, and in 2015 a Falcon 9 launched Eutelsat 115 West B, the operator’s first satellite using electric power for both station-keeping and orbit-raising.

The Eutelsat 115 West B was built by Boeing. But the France-based operator no longer has to depend on the U.S. industry. Thales Alenia Space and Airbus now also offer all-electric platforms, thus increasing the number of supplier options.

In 2014, Eutelsat ordered 172B from Airbus. The satellite uses Airbus’s upgraded Eurostar 3000 EOR (electric-orbit-raising) platform. “It is the first fully electric satellite not developed in the U.S.; it is a first for us and the European industry,” says Nicolas Chamussy, head of space systems at Airbus Defense and Space. Airbus was hoping to source the thrusters from Safran, in an attempt to have an entirely European spacecraft. Autonomy in space technology is a goal shared by the European Commission and the Continent’s industry.

………

Energy use onboard 172B is optimized thanks to two robot arms—two thrusters can be found at the end of each arm. Thrust can thus be precisely vectored. The axis of the thrust always goes through the satellite’s center of gravity, Arnaud de Rosnay, Airbus Defense and Space’s director for communications satellites, explains. Moreover, the arms help remove heat from the electronics hardware inside the spacecraft.

Assuming that VASIMR technology can reach a commercially acceptable state, it could provide relatively high thrust at lower efficiencies for orbital transfer, and lower thrust, and higher efficiency for station keeping, which would allow for both the advantages of Ion and Hall effect thrusters.

In either case, this promises to reduce the cost of satellites, because, much like ground round, you pay for launches by the pound.