Lifetime ground test equipment for ion thruster

Abstract

The invention discloses lifetime ground test equipment for an ion thruster. By employing the equipment, special requirements of high pumping ability, small return sputtering sediment, high reliability, and high equipment integration of test equipment for lifetime tests of the ion thruster can be satisfied. The lifetime ground test equipment for the ion thruster comprises a main cabin vacuum container, a gate valve, an auxiliary cabin vacuum container, a vacuum pumping system, an ion beam target, an anti-sputtering screen, a thruster mobile mechanism, a quartz crystal microbalance QCM, a thruster divergence angle measuring system, a grid corrosion on-line monitoring system, a ground test power supply system, an equipment control system, a xenon supply system, a repressing system, a cooling water system, a pneumatic element air supply system, a liquid nitrogen storage and supply system, and a shooting illumination system. By employing the equipment, real results of the lifetime of the ion thruster can be obtained, and real and reliable test data can be provided for the evaluation of the lifetime and the reliability of the thruster.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical field of ion thrusters, in particular to ground test equipment for ion thrusters. Background technique [0002] Ion thrusters are currently one of the most advanced space propulsion systems, and have been widely used in spacecraft missions in developed countries with foreign aerospace technology. It is characterized by small thrust, high specific impulse, and long life. In October 2012, my country’s Shijian No. 9 satellite was launched into space. It has the correctness of various electric propulsion technology solutions, on-orbit performance, and compatibility with spacecraft. And the successful verification of long-term on-orbit working ability means that my country's all-electric propulsion system has initially possessed on-orbit application capabilities. However, for its mature application on spacecraft, it generally needs to verify its life test on the ground to assess its reliability. The 30cm xenon thruste...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

At present, this kind of test equipment at home and abroad, the large flow gas load is only pumped by traditional conventional vacuum pumps, the pumping efficiency is low, the test equipment and the ion thruster test control system are relatively independent, the integration is low, and the test operation is complicated. The performance and state of the device, such as the divergence angle, the surface condition of the grid (especially in the test of 2 or more ion thrusters), etc. The test methods are simple, and the sputtering deposits of the equipment are large, etc.

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