The Dual-Stage 4-Grid (DS4G) is an

electrostatic ion thruster The gridded ion thruster is a common design for ion thrusters, a highly efficient low-thrust spacecraft propulsion method running on electrical power by using high-voltage grid electrodes to accelerate ions with electrostatic forces. History Th ...

design developed by the European Space Agency, in collaboration with the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

. The design was derived by D. Fern from Controlled Thermonuclear Reactor experiments that use a 4-grid mechanism to accelerate ion beams. A 4-grid ion thruster with only 0.2 m diameter is projected to absorb 250 kW power. With that energy input rate, the thruster could produce a thrust of 2.5 N. The

specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine (a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel) creates thrust. For engines whose reaction mass is only the fuel they carry, specific impulse is ...

(a measure of fuel efficiency), could reach 19,300 s at an exhaust velocity of 210 km/s if

xenon Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

propellant was used.
THE INNOVATIVE DUAL-STAGE 4-GRID ION THRUSTER CONCEPT – THEORY AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS The potentially attainable power and thrust densities would substantially extend the power absorption of current ion thrusters to far more than 100 kW. These characteristics facilitate the development of ion thrusters that can result in extraordinary high-end velocities. Like with thruster concepts such as

VASIMR The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is an electrothermal thruster under development for possible use in spacecraft propulsion. It uses radio waves to ionize and heat an inert propellant, forming a plasma, then a magnetic ...

, the dual-stage-4-grid ion thrusters are mainly limited by the necessary power supply for their operation. For example, if solar panels were to supply more than 250 kW, the size of the solar array would surpass the size of the solar panels of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

. To provide 250 kW with

Stirling radioisotope generator Radioisotope power systems (RPS) are an enabling technology for challenging solar system exploration missions by NASA to destinations where solar energy is weak or intermittent, or where environmental conditions such as dust can limit the ability of ...

s would require roughly 17 tonnes of

plutonium-238 Plutonium-238 (238Pu or Pu-238) is a fissile, radioactive isotope of plutonium that has a half-life of 87.7 years. Plutonium-238 is a very powerful alpha emitter; as alpha particles are easily blocked, this makes the plutonium-238 isotope suita ...

(for which the US stockpile as of 2013 was no more than 20 kg), and so a nuclear thermal reactor would be needed.

Comparison

References

Ion engines {{Space-stub

Comparison

See also

References