Annular Colloid Thruster for Three-Axis Stabilized Military Satellites

Research and development was performed on colloid annular emitter technology which culminated in the fabrication and testing of two multiemitter array configurations. Initial work was devoted to upgrading the time-of-flight (TOF) instrumentation system with subsequent improvement in the quality of TOF data. Propellant mass flowmeter techniques were improved enabling meaningful studies to be conducted correlating TOF with direct mass flow measurements. Thruster performance was improved through an emphasis on increasing distribution efficiencies and by optimizing geometry and propellant. (Modified author abstract)