PPT for drag compensation maneuver of a small satellite

Pulsed plasma thrusters are one of the most promising propulsion systems to perform various propulsive tasks on small satellites. Some of the many advantages they offer compared to other propulsion systems are simplicity, small size, low mass, low power, solid propellant, high reliability, high specific impulse and variable thrust level. Therefore, to perform an orbital maneuver of drag compensation for a small satellite with a mass of less than 60 kg to maintain its repeat ground track orbit throughout its life time, pulsed plasma thruster has been chosen, designed and developed. The satellite is planned to have a circular orbit at an altitude near 760 km, where the orbit decay caused mostly by aerodynamic drag can be compensated by the order of thrust that PPT is capable of producing. The paper briefly describes the design and development of an engineering model pulsed plasma thruster of nominal 15 W power level with a specific impulse level of near 1000 seconds and thrust of near 0.5 mN. The PPT uses a 40 μF 800V metalized-film capacitor, a semiconductor igniter plug, copper electrodes, and an insulator structure with a total mass of less than 1.5 kg including power processing unit (PPU). In addition to the PPT design and development, the satellite mission and the fuzzy logic attitude control system of the satellite will be briefly discussed.