Abstract: As it is well known two types of the so-called "Hall Thrusters" had been developed in USSR, namely: the stationary plasma thrusters (SPT) and thrusters with anode layer (TAL). In the SPT and TAL the ions acceleration by an electric field within the gas were designed, created and tested. They were able to operate with gaseous propellants (Xe, Kr, Ar) within the discharge voltage range of (100-600) V and discharge powers (1-5) kW with thrust efficiency till 40% and specific impulses (1000-1800) s. Obtained performance level was estimated as prospective enough because it was higher than that one of the other EP types within the mentioned range of specific impulses. Therefore at level of the State Committee of Atomic Energy (SCAE) of USSR it was decided to realize the first SPT flight test and in 1972 SPT was successfully * Chief scientist, professor, department of the stationary plasma thrusters, [email protected]. † Chief designer on EP direction, Dr, EPS design development department. ‡ General designer of EDB "Fakel", Dr. § Head of EP laboratory, Dr
