Paulo Lozano
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The goal of this project is to develop the first end-to-end modeling framework to study the plumes produced by electrospray thrusters when integrated on small satellite platforms. These propulsion devices are miniature electric engines that have the potential to provide significant mobility to small spacecraft, enabling a variety of new missions. Electrospray plumes are made of complex particles that must be tracked to ensure proper operation of the thrusters, safety of the scientific instruments, and safe levels of electric charge on the vehicle itself. Our team will integrate a combination of models that capture the physical processes occurring down to the nanoscale (where ion emission occurs) and up to the meter scale (where plumes expand and interact). This research will be performed at MIT’s Space Propulsion Laboratory, where experimental facilities, including a CubeSat testbed, will be used to validate and test model results. The result will be software that propulsion engineers and spacecraft designers can use to design next generation, electrically-propelled CubeSats.