Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

The Design, Fabrication, And Pressure Testing Of A Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic Electric Propulsion Thruster, Derek J. Reis

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Electric thrusters have been used for many years for orbital station-keeping and propulsion. As technology advances, smaller satellites are possible that require less thrust. The resulting miniature electric thrusters need low-weight and compact designs. This thesis specifies the design, fabrication, and testing of a thruster and its fluid delivery system designed for use with a micro-satellite weighing less than fifty kilograms.

The advent of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) has sparked a new market with incredibly small scale designs. Using this technology with Low-Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) materials has spawned the new distinction of Ceramic Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (C-MEMS). The thruster body is …