Before ignition testing of the AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid electrospray thrusters for nanosatellites, the electronics driving and controlling the thruster need to be completely qualified. In order to prepare for this testing, and to verify that my electronics design is actually … Continued
It’s been a work in progress for a while, but I am pleased to finally release a look at the next generation AIS pulsed plasma thrusters: the AIS-ePPT series! These thrusters take lessons learned from the earlier gPPT prototypes with … Continued
Quick update on some new AIS swag! Brand new 3″ holographic AIS stickers are in from Sticker Mule! I ordered these a while ago when they were first released, which finally arrived. I’ve got to say, these came out absolutely … Continued
With the new AIS-ILIS1 V1 board soldered up, testing has officially begun on the ILIS1 thruster electronics. While I am still waiting on the -HV supply, there is plenty of work qualifying the +HV supply and general timing in the … Continued
After extensive analysis of data and trends for macro-ILIS thruster technology based on current literature, I believe I have established projected performance for the AIS-ILIS1. The following post will overview this performance projection based on research in macro-ILIS technology, and … Continued
Some major news has just been released regarding the upcoming AMSAT-Spain GENESIS mission! Both the GENESIS satellites, as well as the Applied Ion Systems AIS-gPPT3-1C pulsed plasma thrusters have successfully passed vibration testing! This was the one thing that worried … Continued
I was doing my usual research on electric propulsion the other day when I stumbled across a bit of a surprise. Turns out someone has already added AIS to the Nanosats Database under propulsion companies! AIS is actually right up … Continued
The V1 boards for the AIS-ILIS1 are in from OSHPark! I have all of the parts for the electronics except for the negative HV supply, so I will be soldering and performing preliminary switching measurements with the positive supply this … Continued
I am very excited to announce that my talk proposal on open source electric propulsion has been accepted to the Open Source Hardware Summit 2020 in NYC this coming March! This will be an amazing opportunity to not only connect … Continued
I am extremely excited to continue to see the evolution of the GENESIS PocketQubes from the awesome AMSAT-Spain team! The AIS-gPPT3-1C thruster has been successfully integrated into the satellite, and everything sounds like it is coming together! We are on … Continued