Recently, the 300W Hall thrusters developed by the 502 Institute of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group successfully completed the orbit-raising mission of a low-orbit satellite, raising the satellite orbit by nearly 300 kilometers. This is the first time that China has used electric propulsion system to complete the orbit change task of a low-orbit satellite. The success of this mission is another milestone in the space application of electric propulsion in my country.
Low-orbit constellation missions often take the form of batch launches. Due to the carrying constraints, the orbital altitude of the separation of the satellite and the arrow is lower than the target orbital altitude of the satellite, and the satellite needs to be raised to the orbit autonomously. This task falls on the satellite propulsion system. The electric propulsion system has the characteristics of precise thrust specific impulse and is suitable for high load ratio application scenarios. The Hall electric propulsion system used for the orbit raising mission is currently the most widely used electric propulsion system in orbit. In this orbit raising mission, the Hall electric propulsion system worked for more than 110 days, the system fired more than 600 times, and worked for more than 400 hours in total, with good performance indicators. In the future, the Hall electric propulsion system will also undertake other orbital control tasks for the satellite.
Hall electric propulsion system is an advanced electric propulsion device, which is widely used in satellite position maintenance and orbit control, and has become the preferred propulsion device for low-orbit constellation satellites due to its high reliability, high specific impulse, and high cost performance. The successful implementation of this orbital change mission has verified all the key technologies and system reliability of the 502 Institute's low-power Hall electric propulsion system.
The 300-watt electric propulsion system is mainly composed of a Hall thruster, a storage supply module and a power supply module. Each single machine in the system is independently developed by 502 Institute, and system integration and filling are completed in the institute, and finally delivered to users in the form of system modules. In recent years, in response to the demand for mass production of low-orbit constellation satellites, the 502 Institute has established an automated system integration production line through a special production capacity improvement plan, reaching an annual output of 150 sets of electric propulsion systems.
502 Institute has developed 10KW, 5KW, 1.35KW, 600W, 300W, 100W and other spectral Hall electric propulsion products, which can meet the needs of various satellite platforms in low, medium and high orbits. As of September 2022, there are 20 sets of various on-orbit Hall electric propulsion systems developed by 502, all of which are operating normally. In addition, facing the low-cost demand in the future, on the basis of existing products, 502 Institute has developed a Hall electric propulsion system compatible with xenon and krypton working fluids through optimized design, and the performance indicators have reached the international advanced level. (Han Daoman Hu Yanlin)
