The invention discloses a
vacuum arc thruster. The thruster comprises a
cathode located in the center. An insulator II, a common
anode, an insulator I and an outer ring
cathode are concentrically arranged on the periphery of the
cathode in sequence. According to a multi-mode structure of the
vacuum arc thruster, a power source negative
electrode is connected with an
inductor L1 and an
inductor L2 which are connected in parallel and controlled by a switch K1 and a switch K2 correspondingly; the other ends of the
inductor L1 and the inductor L2 which are connected in parallel are connected with a
solid-state switch K0, a switch K3, a switch K5, a switch K7 and a switch K8 correspondingly; the other end of the
solid-state switch K0 is connected to the ground, the other end of the switch K3 and the other end of the switch K8 are connected with the cathode, and the other end of the switch K5 and the other end of the switch K7 are commonly connected with the outer ring cathode; and one end of a switch K4, one end of a switch K6 and one end of a switch K9 are commonly connected with the common
anode, and the other end of the switch K4, the other end of the switch K6 and the other end of the switch K9 are commonly connected with a power source positive
electrode. Six achieving manners are achieved for the multi-mode structure. The efficiency of the thruster is improved, the service life of the thruster is prolonged, and the
vacuum arc thruster can adapt to different degrees of power and thrust.