R&D, Walkthroughs, Updates, and System Builds
Right on the heels of the exciting news about my first thruster going orbital next week, I am pleased to reveal a first look at the next gen AIS thruster in development – the fully integrated assembly of the first … Continued
I can’t believe it. It’s finally happening! Two years ago I started building and testing thrusters for nanosats at home for fun. Now, one of my thrusters will actually have a chance to go orbital next week aboard the Care … Continued
Decided to use some of my recent thruster sales proceeds for some desperately needed tools and upgrades. Since having started my very first vacuum endeavors about 3 years ago, I finally own my own full tool set, a nice Hakko … Continued
The main discharge and auxiliary power boards for the EHT1 are assembled and have passed bench checks! The large Pico board will power the Hall thruster head providing up to 9W discharge power, while the auxiliary board powers the <5W … Continued
Testing EP in a tiny chamber has really forced me to get creative. For my upcoming EHT1 tests, I have designed a modular multi-use test stand allowing me to align the Hall thruster for beam current, direct thrust via micro-pendulum, … Continued
Submitted a lot of big orders last night for the EHT1 Micro End-Hall Thruster development! The first prototype designs for the discharge and auxiliary boards for the EHT1 are complete and in the process of being manufactured. The remaining electronics … Continued
I have started a more in-depth analysis to better predict the expected performance of the EHT1 Micro End-Hall Thruster and AHT1 Micro Anode-layer Hall Thruster. Looking at the numbers and literature, there are some very interesting conclusions that can be … Continued
I am pleased to reveal a look at the first fully integrated design for the EHT1 Micro End-Hall Thruster for 2U-3U Cubesats! The system includes thruster, hollow-cathode neutralizer, fuel tank, fuel management, and electronics. The complete Hall thruster system measures … Continued
Time to disassemble and inspect the GDN1 Glow-Discharge Hollow-Cathode Neutralizer from Saturday’s test! You can see the full test recap of the GDN1 HERE. This was not only my first run with the GDN1, but also the first time the … Continued
Another week at AIS, and another resounding success for the AIS ADAMANT Series. This past Saturday I ran the AIS-GDN1 Glow-Discharge Hollow-Cathode Neutralizer for the first time ever to a great success. In this post, I will review the test, … Continued