FEEP MICROTHRUSTER TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS

The FEEP thruster development is carried out by Centrospazio under ESA and ASI funding. This activity aims at two application areas for which FEEP is unique, or presents substantial advantages with respect to other propulsion technologies: drag-free scientific missions and small satellites attitude control and orbit maintenance. Typical thrust ranges involved are 1 to 100 μN for dragfree control and up to 1 mN for small spacecraft AOCS, respectively. The thruster performance has been assessed in the laboratory and thruster engineering is well underway. A flight demonstration on a Shuttle Get Away Special canister is scheduled for 1999, while a drag-free microspacecraft will follow a few months later. This paper presents the status of FEEP technology and its application potential for commercial and scientific missions. The thruster development plan is outlined and discussed