Perspectives of electric propulsion for outer planetary and deep space missions
- Solar-electric propulsion (SEP) is superior with respect to payload capacity, flight time and flexible launch window to the conventional interplanetary transfer method using chemical propulsion combined with gravity assists. This fact results from the large exhaust velocities of electric low–thrust propulsion and is favourable also for missions to the giant planets, Kuiper-belt objects and even for a heliopause probe (IHP) as shown in three studies by the authors funded by DLR. They dealt with a lander for Europa and a sample return mission from a mainbelt asteroid [1], with the TANDEM mission [2]; the third recent one investigates electric propulsion for the transfer to the edge of the solar system. All studies are based on triple-junction solar arrays, on rf-ion thrusters of the qualified RIT-22 type and they use the intelligent trajectory optimization program InTrance [3].
| Author: | Karl-Heinz Schartner, H. W. Loeb, Bernd DachwaldORCiD, Andreas Ohndorf |
|---|---|
| Parent Title (English): | European Planetary Science Congress 2009 |
| Document Type: | Conference Proceeding |
| Language: | English |
| Year of Completion: | 2009 |
| Date of the Publication (Server): | 2022/04/07 |
| Length: | 1 |
| First Page: | 416 |
| Last Page: | 416 |
| Note: | European Planetary Science Congress 2009, 13-18 September, Potsdam, Germany |
| Link: | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253512384_Perspectives_of_Electric_Propulsion_for_Outer_Planetary_and_Deep_Space_Missions |
| Institutes: | FH Aachen / Fachbereich Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik |
| FH Aachen / IfB - Institut für Bioengineering |
