Research & Development

Ion Sources and Electric Propulsion

The business area „Space Propulsion and Advanced Concepts“ is a world-leader in the development of ion sources for space applications. Since the AUSTROMIR mission in 1991, AIT has supplied a number of satellites with Liquid-Metal-Ion-Sources (LMIS) using indium as propellant. This ion source is also the core element of a Field-Emission-Electric-Propulsion (FEEP) microthruster that is under development with our industrial partners to enable ultraprecise attitude and orbit control to be used for formation flying in space.

In order to expand our scope on micropropulsion systems, AIT recently started the development of Micro-Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (µPPT). In addition to our hardware developments and testing capabilities, we are also active in the area of numerical simulation of electric propulsion systems. Our Particle-In-Cell Code SMARTPIC was used for the data analysis from the first European mission to the moon SMART-1.

Abb.: Liquid Metal Ion Source