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Major VASIMR update
VASIMR is the plasma rocket headed for testing on the ISS in a couple of years. Feed one enough kWh and it's the best candidate for an interplanetary drive, and is very similar to Star Trek's impulse drive. Low thrust, but in principle it could run for months on end using a small fuel mass, giving it a very high specific impulse (high efficiency.)
[Ad Astra update (PDF)....
[Ad Astra update (PDF)....
Vasimr VX-200 meets full power efficiency milestone
Ad Astra Rocket Company’s VASIMR® VX-200 rocket prototype demonstrated its highest power efficiency and performance so far in tests, which ended Friday November 19 at the company’s Houston laboratory. Last week’s results met the efficiency milestone set by the company as it specifies the requirements for the VF-200 flight engine for the International Space Station. The VX-200 is the full power laboratory prototype that provides the technical basis for the design of the flight hardware.
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The thrust data represents a new company record and already exceeds the requirement specified for the VF-200 flight engine core by a factor of two. These data appear to follow a linear upward trend with input DC power with no evidence of saturation. The new record performance numbers for VASIMR® operating with Argon propellant are listed below:
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“Many of the flight applications at the heart of our business model – orbital debris removal, satellite servicing, cargo flights to the Moon and Mars, and ejecting fast probes to the outer solar system – have required that the propulsion system achieve 60% system efficiency at 50 km/s exhaust velocity. The DC electrical power coming from a solar or nuclear power source has to be converted to radiofrequency (RF) power, which is then absorbed by the plasma. The fraction of the RF power that is converted to thrust is called the “thruster efficiencyâ€. Now we have demonstrated in the lab the 70% thruster efficiency we need to achieve the 60% end-to-end system efficiency, at the required exhaust speed. Our technology is more mature and our company’s plans are on a firmer foundation.†said Dr. Tim Glover, Senior Vice President for Development.
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Ad Astra Rocket Company’s VASIMR® VX-200 rocket prototype demonstrated its highest power efficiency and performance so far in tests, which ended Friday November 19 at the company’s Houston laboratory. Last week’s results met the efficiency milestone set by the company as it specifies the requirements for the VF-200 flight engine for the International Space Station. The VX-200 is the full power laboratory prototype that provides the technical basis for the design of the flight hardware.
>
The thrust data represents a new company record and already exceeds the requirement specified for the VF-200 flight engine core by a factor of two. These data appear to follow a linear upward trend with input DC power with no evidence of saturation. The new record performance numbers for VASIMR® operating with Argon propellant are listed below:
>
“Many of the flight applications at the heart of our business model – orbital debris removal, satellite servicing, cargo flights to the Moon and Mars, and ejecting fast probes to the outer solar system – have required that the propulsion system achieve 60% system efficiency at 50 km/s exhaust velocity. The DC electrical power coming from a solar or nuclear power source has to be converted to radiofrequency (RF) power, which is then absorbed by the plasma. The fraction of the RF power that is converted to thrust is called the “thruster efficiencyâ€. Now we have demonstrated in the lab the 70% thruster efficiency we need to achieve the 60% end-to-end system efficiency, at the required exhaust speed. Our technology is more mature and our company’s plans are on a firmer foundation.†said Dr. Tim Glover, Senior Vice President for Development.
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