Patent — available for licensing
Hall Effect Thruster Technologies
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
Innovators at NASA's Glenn Research Center have developed new technologies that increase the operational lifetime of a Hall effect thruster (HET), which is used primarily on Earth-orbiting satellites and can also be used for deep-space robotic vehicles. The operational lifetime of HETs is determined by the amount of time the thruster can operate before the plasma within the channel damages the magnetic system. Prior to this innovation, the plasma would erode the ceramic chamber of the HET in just over a year of operation. Glenn's breakthrough technology prolongs this operational lifetime through two related innovations. The first is an innovative magnetic field configuration that provides magnetic shielding to eliminate interactions between the high energy xenon plasma produced by the HET and the ceramic chamber that contains it. The second is a means of replacing eroded discharge channel material via a channel wall replacement mechanism. By increasing the lifetime and efficiency of HETs, Glenn's technology will enable a new era of space propulsion.