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New Plasma Engine Design Fuels on Thin Air for Spacecraft
Confirmed
In Short: According to reports, Romano's design includes an 'enhanced funnel design' and a 'specular intake' that bounce particles directly into the engine, enabling it to function with minimal power.
The engine, detailed in Romano's PhD thesis at the University of Stuttgart, could operate between 190 and 250 km using less than 1.6 kW of power, making it a viable option for spacecraft operations, especially on Mars where it could support indefinite operation at lower altitudes.
However, the design faces challenges, including air friction that requires constant engine operation to maintain orbit, and the potential for corrosion of metal components due to the oxidative nature of atmospheric oxygen.
Romano's work falls under the category of Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) systems, which scoop up thin air and convert it into plasma for thrust, addressing the issue of fuel consumption in low Earth orbit (LEO).
What's confirmed
- The engine, detailed in Romano's PhD thesis at the University of Stuttgart, could operate between 190 and 250 km using less than 1.6 kW of power, making it a viable option for spacecraft operations, especially on Mars where it could support indefinite operation at lower altitudes.
- However, the design faces challenges, including air friction that requires constant engine operation to maintain orbit, and the potential for corrosion of metal components due to the oxidative nature of atmospheric oxygen.
- Romano's work falls under the category of Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) systems, which scoop up thin air and convert it into plasma for thrust, addressing the issue of fuel consumption in low Earth orbit (LEO).
What's still developing
- Romano He actually trialed three different versions of an intake - one called an “enhanced funnel design”, which acted as a molecular trap to capture air particles that are spread so far apart they never run into each other.
- And finally he designed what he called a specular intake, which is a parabolic mirror coated with graphite or silicon dioxide that bounced particles directly into the engine.
- According to the thesis’ calculations, the new engine could operate indefinitely between 190 and 250 km using less than 1.6 kW of power, which is still well within the generation limits of standard spacecraft solar panels.
- Mars has an atmosphere dominated by CO2, and, according to the thesis, the engine could support a spacecraft indefinitely above the Red Planet at a height of 120 - 160 km, which is much closer than existing orbital satellites.
- It’s unclear whether Dr. Romano has any plans to pursue that track, but his work on it so far at least shows the design has potential - maybe someone out there is willing to pursue it.
- But there’s also a cost - air friction requires any satellite in this orbit to use an engine near constantly to stay in orbit, which in turn requires fuel - typically in the form of expensive gases like Xenon.
- So, as part of his PhD thesis at the University of Stuttgart, which is available in arXiv, Francesco Romano decided to solve that problem by using the very air molecules that cause that friction as fuel for a plasma engine to keep satellites aloft indefinitely in VLEO.
- These scoop up thin air in front of a spacecraft (or, in some cases, a missile) and channel that air into an electric engine, which then turns the molecules into plasma, which is then shot out the back of the engine producing thrust.