Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Fiber-fed advanced pulsed plasma thruster (FPPT)
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Application No.: US16439755Application Date: 2019-06-13
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Publication No.: US11242844B2Publication Date: 2022-02-08
- Inventor: Curtis Woodruff , Darren King , Rodney Burton , David L. Carroll
- Applicant: CU Aerospace, LLC
- Applicant Address: US IL Champaign
- Assignee: CU Aerospace, LLC
- Current Assignee: CU Aerospace, LLC
- Current Assignee Address: US IL Champaign
- Agency: Much Shelist, P.C.
- Agent Adam K. Sacharoff
- Main IPC: F03H1/00
- IPC: F03H1/00 ; B64G1/40 ; H05H1/14 ; H05H1/54

Abstract:
A Fiber-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster (FPPT) utilizes a motor to feed PTFE fiber to its discharge region, enabling high PPT propellant throughput and variable exposed fuel area. A highly parallel ceramic capacitor bank lowers system specific mass. Impulse bits (I-bits) from 0.057-0.241 mN-s have been measured on a thrust stand with a specific impulse (Isp) of 900-2400 s, representing an enhancement from state-of-the-art PPT technology. A 1 U (10 cm×10 cm×10 cm, or 1 liter) volume FPPT thruster package will provide 2900-7700 N-s total impulse, enabling 0.6-1.6 km/s delta-V for a 5 kg CubeSat. A 1 U design variation with 590 g propellant enables as much as ˜10,000 N-s and a delta-V of 2 km/s for a 5 kg CubeSat. Increasing the form factor to 2U increases propellant mass to 1.4 kg and delta-V to 10.7 km/s for an 8 kg CubeSat.
Public/Granted literature
- US20200032777A1 FIBER-FED ADVANCED PULSED PLASMA THRUSTER (FPPT) Public/Granted day:2020-01-30
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