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Ion thrusters are categorized as either electrostatic or electromagnetic. The main difference is the method for accelerating the ions. Electrostatic ion thrusters use the Coulomb force and accelerate the ions in the direction of the electric field.
Electrostatic ion thrusters have also achieved a specific impulse of 30–100 kN·s/kg, or 3,000 to 10,000 s, better than most other ion thruster types. Electrostatic ion thrusters have accelerated ions to speeds reaching 100 km/s .
The Dual-Stage 4-Grid (DS4G) is an electrostatic ion thruster design developed by the European Space Agency, [1] in collaboration with the Australian National University. [2] The design was derived by D. Fern from Controlled Thermonuclear Reactor experiments that use a 4-grid mechanism to accelerate ion beams.
The Deep Space 1 and Dawn used the NSTAR, a solar-powered electrostatic ion propulsion engine. The NASA Solar Technology Application Readiness (NSTAR) is a type of spacecraft ion thruster called electrostatic ion thruster. [1] [2] It is a highly efficient low-thrust spacecraft propulsion running on electrical power generated by solar arrays.
The NEXT thruster has demonstrated, in ground tests, a total impulse of 17 MN·s; which as of 2010 was the highest total impulse ever demonstrated by an ion thruster. [2] A beam extraction area 1.6 times that of NSTAR allows higher thruster input power while maintaining low voltages and ion current densities, thus maintaining thruster longevity.
Cold gas thruster; Electrohydrodynamic thruster, using ionized air (only for use in an atmosphere) Electrodeless plasma thruster, electric propulsion using ponderomotive force; Electrostatic ion thruster, using high-voltage electrodes; Hall effect thruster, a type of ion thruster; Ion thruster, using beams of ions accelerated electrically
Field-emission electric propulsion (FEEP) is an advanced electrostatic space propulsion concept, a form of ion thruster, that uses a liquid metal as a propellant – usually either caesium, indium, or mercury. [1] A FEEP device consists of an emitter and an accelerator electrode.
An electrostatic motor or capacitor motor is a type of electric motor based on the attraction and repulsion of electric charge. An alternative type of electrostatic motor is the spacecraft electrostatic ion drive thruster where forces and motion are created by electrostatically accelerating ions.