A dual Stage ion engine for high impulse missions

In this paper, the applicability of dual stage ion opticsand in particular of the so-called dual stage ion engine to highpower, high specific impulse missions will be evaluated. First, theperformance limits of conventional two gridded ion engines (GIE)will be discussed and the advantages provided by dual stage ionengines reported. The limits of applicability of a dual stage ionengine will be analyzed analytically and the results confirmednumerically. The lifetime and performance of a three griddeddual stage ion engine (DS3G) will be numerically investigated andcompared to those of a conventional GIE assessing for the firsttime in the open literature under what condition dual stage ionoptics provide performance improvements over conventional GIEsand what is its impact on the thruster lifetime. Dual stage ionengines have been found to be capable of providing higher thrustdensity and longer lifetime with respect to conventional griddedion engines