BHT-1500
Pioneering center-mounted cathode. Compact and efficient.
Efficient and high-performance propulsion system designed for use with xenon and krypton propellants.
Busek’s BHT-1500 is a 2kW-class Hall Effect thruster with an innovative center-mounted cathode. Using novel design features like a two-piece “composite” anode and shortened dielectric channel, the BHT-1500 stands apart from other SPT designs.
Operation with the internally mounted cathode confers a number of advantages, including improved performance, reduced sensitivity of performance to cathode flow rate, and more efficient cathode-plume coupling. In addition, the thruster is less sensitive to vacuum facility background pressure and exhibits less plume divergence.
The BHT-1500 offers class-leading efficiency over a huge range of throttle points. With plenty of thermal and magnetic margin for operation at high powers, this thruster is a flexible workhorse for small to medium class satellites.
Nominal Discharge Power: 1,500 W
Discharge Power Range: 1,000-2,700 W
Nominal Thrust: 101 mN (Xe)
Propellants: Xenon, Krypton, Iodine
Nominal Specific Impulse: 1710 seconds
Demonstrated Impulse: Pending
Predicted Total Impulse: >6.5 MN⋅s
An efficient thruster for demanding applications.
The life of the thruster extends well beyond the typical needs of GEO satellites and Busek’s design minimizes erosion via the use of a virtual magnetic field wall. The BHT-1500 thruster system operates in two modes; orbit-raising mode producing over 120 milliNewtons (mN) of thrust with 1,700 seconds total specific impulse (Isp) at 1,800 Watts (W) of power, and station-keeping mode producing more than 100 mN thrust and 1,900 seconds Isp.
Tested extensively at Aerospace Corporation.
Independent testing at The Aerospace Corporation demonstrated the thruster has 10% higher specific impulse and 15% higher thrust efficiency than the nearest competitive HET product available on the market. This performance advantage can generate hundreds of kilograms in launch mass savings for the average medium class GEO communications satellite, or millions of dollars in added revenue over the life of a given spacecraft via added mass capabilities.
Publications:
Publications with Busek affiliated authors are marked in bold.
Szabo, J., Tedrake, R., Kolencik, G., Pote, B., “Measurements of a Krypton Fed 1.5 kW Hall Effect Thruster with a Centrally Located Cathode”, 35th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, October 2017.
Diamant, K., Curtiss, T., Spektor, R., Beiting, E., Hruby, V., Pote, B., Kolencik, J., and Paintal, S., “Performance and Plume Characterization of the BHT-1500 Hall Thruster,” Joint Conference of 30th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science 34th International Electric Propulsion Conference and 6th Nano-satellite Symposium, Hyogo-Kobe, Japan, July 4-10, 2015.
Beiting, E., Cox, W.., Spektor, Diamant, K., Spektor, R., Hruby, V., Pote, B, “Busek BHT-1500 External vs Center Cathode EMC Study,” Joint Conference of 30th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science 34th International Electric Propulsion Conference and 6th Nano-satellite Symposium, Hyogo-Kobe, Japan, July 4-10,2015.
Azziz, Y., “Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of a Hall Thruster Plume,” Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2007.
Azziz, Y., Martinez-Sanchez, M., Szabo, J., “Determination of In-Orbit Plume Characteristics from Laboratory Measurements,” 42nd AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference, AIAA paper 2006-4484, Sacramento, California, July 9-12, 2006.
Szabo, J., Azziz, Y., “Characterization of a High Specific Impulse Xenon Hall Effect Thruster,” 29th International Electric Propulsion Conference, IEPC Paper 05-324, Princeton University, 31 Oct – 4 Nov 2005.
Azziz, Y., Martinez-Sanchez, M., Szabo, J., “Effect of Discharge Voltage on Plume Divergence of a High Specific Impulse Hall Thruster,” 41st AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference, AIAA Paper 2005-4403, Tucson, AZ, July 10-13, 2005.
Szabo, J., “High Isp Hall Thruster Simulations and Experiments,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Vol. 49, No. 8, Nov 2004, p. 299-300.
Busek Company, “A High Isp Hall Thruster for Advanced In-Space Propulsion,” SBIR Final Report NAS3-01124, Natick, MA, February, 2005.
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