GG Drag Compensation with FEEP Thrusters

Abstract

Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) is presently regarded as the ideal solution for drag compensation on scientific satellites. In fact, FEEP is presently the only exisisting propulsion system capable of producing thrust in the micronewton range, with the controllability, thrust resolution and fast response which are needed in such demanding applications. Other envisaged areas of application of FEEP include small satellite attitude control and disturbance compensation on microgravity platforms. The FEEP system is under development at Centrospazio, under ESA and ASI sponsorship.This paper presents some of the most recent experimental results , devoted to the investigation of the thruster behaviour when operated in pulsed mode. This special operating mode is of particular interest in view of the use of FEEP for drag-free control of the proposed scientific small satellite Galileo Galilei