Operation of a Coaxial High Energy (CHENG) Thruster
نویسندگان
چکیده
The Coaxial High ENerGy (CHENG) Thruster is a high power coaxial pulsed plasma accelerator that was first proposed in 1970 by D.Y. Cheng. Reported exhaust velocities on the order of 10m/s, thrust densities on the order of 10N/m and low erosion rates make this thruster attractive for a variety of space missions. However, little work has been published since 1970 and the acceleration mechanism is not well understood. Therefore, the concept was recently reintroduced to the electric propulsion community with the goal of building scaled down versions that can operate at lower energy levels and higher pulse rates. This paper gives an overview of the design of a 3kJ CHENG thruster and first experimental results from its operation.
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