De-risk assessment: RAM Electrical Propulsion for low altitude satellites

The technical objective was to evaluate all steps of the development of intake-collector product for air-breathing electric propulsion application.

This activity was aiming to support in-orbit demonstration mission for the validation of ram electric propulsion technologies. It shall provide a plan for the development of an intake system for air-breathing thrusters.The de-risk study has been executed following standard product development lifecycle. It has started with the identification of top-level requirements based on a mission scenario and engine requirements. A review of the current intake-collector design has been performed, followed by a preliminary assessment of the performance. The development of numerical tools for the optimization of the design has been carried out and a methodology for ground-testing validation has been proposed. A prototype of the intake-collector system has been manufactured.The technology associated to the ram-EP will benefit to VLEO applications by increasing the lifetime of the missions.This “de-risking” project allows to prepare follow-up activities to reach TRL 6. In parallel, a phase B for IoD mission will be carried out.