BUSEK CO., INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF192-044
BUSEK CO., INC. — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Defense.
- Amount
- $150,000
- Agency
- Department of Defense · Air Force
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Topic
- AF192-044
- Solicitation
- 19.2
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- MA
- Period
- 2020-03-06 → 2020-12-06
Description
In this proposed SBIR program, Busek Co. Inc. will begin development of a high power, high thrust plasma thruster system for future flight opportunities. The technology has many potential propellants including xenon, krypton, iodine, and products of AF-M315E. The proposed Closed Electron Drift thruster is designed to operate at high power density, enabling pseudo-impulsive orbital maneuvers. Instead of being powered directly by solar arrays, it would be powered by a high power energy storage device. The power density of the plasma discharge will be many times higher than what is found in a typical Hall effect thruster. The Phase I effort will include system analysis, modeling, proof of concept experiments, and plans for high density thruster to be built and tested in Phase II.