BHT-200

The first US Hall effect thruster in space. A mature propulsion system with flight heritage and high performance.

The BHT-200 is a high performance and mature propulsion system with flight heritage aboard the Air Force Research Laboratory’s TacSat-2 and FalconSat-5 satellites. The thruster is presently operating on-orbit on the FalconSat-6 satellite.

The BHT-200 is the first US-designed and US-built Hall Effect thruster used in-space on operational satellites, and is subject of numerous technical papers and journal publications. The BHT-200 is the most extensively studied US Hall Effect thruster, and the lessons learned from it have made our line of Hall thrusters the best in the industry.

Discharge Power: 200 W
Voltage: 250 VDC
Thrust: 13 mN

The Whole Package

Busek provides the option of a complete and fully integrated Hall Effect thruster system with the BHT-200, including cathode, power processing unit, digital control unit, and propellant management systems.

Busek propulsion systems are composed of a combination of commercially sourced parts with long flight heritage and in-house produced assemblies and electronics, perfectly tuned to achieve maximum performance and lifetime from our Hall thrusters.

Publications:

Publications with Busek affiliated authors are marked in bold.

• Szabo, J., Robin, M., “Plasma Species Measurements in the Plume of an Iodine Fueled Hall Thruster,” Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 1357-1367 (2014). doi: http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/1.B35075

• Szabo, J., Robin, “Iodine Plasma Species Measurements in a Hall Effect Thruster Plume,” 49th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, AIAA Paper 2013-4115, July 2013.

• Szabo, J., Pote, B., Paintal, S., Robin, M., Hillier, A., Branam, R., Huffman, R., “Performance Evaluation of an Iodine Vapor Hall Thruster”, Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 28, No. 4, July/August 2012, pp. 848-857.  doi:  10.2514/1.B34291

• Optical Emission Spectra of the Iodine Hall Thruster
  Yu-Hui Chiu, Benjamin Prince 48th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2012, 10.2514/6.2012-3872

• Szabo, J., Pote, B., Paintal, S., Robin, M., Kolencik, G., Hillier, A., Branam, R., Huffman, R., “Performance Evaluation of an Iodine Vapor Hall Thruster”, 47th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, AIAA Paper 2011-5891, San Diego, CA, 31 July – 3 August 2011.

• Bromaghim, D., Reed, G., Singleton, J., et al., “Summary of On-Orbit Performance of the 200-W Hall Thruster System on TacSat-2,” JANNAF Journal of Propulsion and Energetics, Vol. 4, No. 1, April 2011, pp. 87-102.

• Hargus, W., Nakles, M., and Reed, G., “Overview of Air Force Ground Testing of the Busek BHT-200 Hall Thruster,” JANNAF Journal of Propulsion and Energetics, Vol. 4, No. 1, April 2011, pp. 129-142.

• Hillier, A., Branam, R., Huffman, R., Szabo, J., and Paintal, S., “High Thrust Density Propellants in Hall Thrusters,” 49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Orlando, Florida, Jan 4-7 2011.

• Pote, B., Rosenblad, N., Patintal, S., Ehrbar, E., Roy, T., Szabo, J. “Compact Low Mass Propulsion for Responsive Space,” U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL-RZ-ED-TR-2011-0002, January 2011. 

• David Liu, Richard Huffman, Richard Branam, William Hargus 200W Hall Thruster Discharge Oscillations with Xe and Kr Propellant
  42nd AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Conference, 2011, 10.2514/6.2011-3738

• Shannon Cheng, Manuel Martinez-Sanchez. Hybrid Particle-in-Cell Erosion Modeling of Two Hall Thrusters.
  Journal of Propulsion and Power, 2008, Vol.24: 987-998, 10.2514/1.36179

• “Near Exit Plane Velocity Field of a 200-Watt Hall Thruster”
  William A. Hargus, Christopher S. Charles
  Journal of Propulsion and Power, 2008, Vol.24: 127-133, 10.2514/1.29949

• “Optical Diagnostics of BHT-200 Hall Thruster Wall Erosion”
  Murat Celik, Oleg Batishchev, Manuel Martinez-Sanchez
  44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2008, 10.2514/6.2008-5089

• Bohnert, A., “Thermal Characterization of a Hall Effect Thruster, AFIT/GA/ENY/08-M101, MS Thesis, March 2008.

• Beal, B., Gallimore, A., and Hargus, W., “The Effects of Cathode Configuration on Hall Thruster Cluster Plume Properties,” Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 23, No. 4, July-August 2007.

• Experimental and Numerical Examination of the BHT-200 Hall Thruster Plume
  Michael Nakles, Lubos Brieda, Garrett Reed, William Hargus, Randy Spicer
  43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2007, 10.2514/6.2007-5305

• Tomaszewski, J., “Characterization of a Hall Effect Thruster using Thermal Imaging, MS Thesis, March 2007.

• Celik, M., “Experimental and Computational Studies of Electric Thruster Plasma Radiation Emission,” PhD Thesis, MIT, May 2007.

• Comparison of Numerical and Experimental Near-Field Ion Velocity Distributions of the BHT-200-X3 Hall Thruster
  Michael Nakles, William Hargus, Douglas VanGilder
  42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2006, 10.2514/6.2006-4479

• Garrett Reed, William Hargus. Complementary Density Measurements for the 200-X3 Hall Thruster Plume.

• 42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2006, 10.2514/6.2006-4992

• William Hargus, Michael Nakles. Evolution of the Ion Velocity Distribution in the Near Field of the BHT-200-X3 Hall Thruster
  42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2006, 10.2514/6.2006-4991

• Coaxial Hall Thruster with Diamond Inner Channel Wall
  Nicolas Gascon, Scott Crawford, Ronald Corey, Mark Cappelli
  42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2006, 10.2514/6.2006-4995

• E x B Measurements of a 200 W Xenon Hall Thruster
  Jared Ekholm, William Hargus
  41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2005, 10.2514/6.2005-4405

• William Hargus, Joshua Strafaccia. Optical Boron Nitride Insulator Erosion Characterization of a 200 W Xenon Hall Thruster
  41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2005, 10.2514/6.2005-3529

• William Hargus. Laser-Induced Fluorescence of Neutral Xenon in the Near Field of a 200 W Hall Thruster
  41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, 2005, 10.2514/6.2005-4400

• Beal, B., Gallimore, A., Haas, J., and Hargus, W., “Plume Properties in the Plume of a Hall Thruster Cluster,” Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 20, No. 6, 2004, pp. 985-991.

• Beal, B, Gallimore, A, and Hargus, W., “The Effects of Clustering Multiple Hall Thrusters on Plasma Plume Properties,” AIAA 2003-5155, 39th Joint Propulsion Conference, Huntsville, AL, 20-23 July 2003.

• William Hargus. Near Exit Plane Velocity Field of 200 W Hall Thruster
  39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, 2003, 10.2514/6.2003-5154

• Y. Azziz and M. Martinez-Sanchez, “Plasma Measurements on a 200-Watt Hall Thruster Plume,” IEPC-2003-140, 28th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Toulouse, France, March 17-21, 2003.

• Pacros, A., “Instruments Design and Testing for a Hall Thruster Plume Experiment on the Space Shuttle,” MS Thesis, MIT, June 2002.

• Hargus, W., and Reed, G., “The Air Force Clustered Hall Thruster Program,” AIAA-2002-3678, 38th Joint Propulsion Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, 7-10 July 2002.

• Beiting, E. J., et al., “Electromagnetic Emissions from a BHT-200 Hall Thruster”, IEPC 01-342.

• V. Hruby, et. al., “Hall Thrusters Operating in Pulsed Mode,” IEPC-01-66, 27th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Pasadena, October 14-19, 2001.

• B. Pote, et. al., “Xenon Fueled Electric Micro-Thruster:  Final Report,” Phase I SBIR Contract No. NAS 3-01059, August 2001.

• Monheiser, J., Hruby, V., Freeman, C., Connolly, W., and Pote, B., “Low-Power Hall Thruster System,” in Micropropulsion for Small Spacecraft, ed. M. Micci and A. Ketsdever, Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, V. 187, 2000.

• Hruby, V., Monheiser, J., Pote, B., Freeman, C., and Connolly, W., “Low Power, Hall Thruster Propulsion System,” 26th International Electric Propulsion Conference, IEPC paper 99-092, Kitakyushu, Japan, Oct 99.

• V. Hruby, J. Monheiser, B. Pote, P. Rostler, J. Kolencik, C. Freeman. Development of low power Hall thrusters
  30th Plasmadynamic and Lasers Conference, 1999, 10.2514/6.1999-3534

• Szabo, J., Martinez-Sanchez, M., Monheiser, J., “Application of 2-D Hybrid PIC Code to Alternative Hall Thruster Geometries,” 34th AIAA/ASME/ASE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, AIAA Paper 98-3795, Cleveland, OH, July 98.