Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and the Military Space Academy named after. A.F.
The project is based on an effective technology for gas ionization in a vacuum using porous membranes.
Research is underway to create electricrocket engines and entire propulsion platforms based on them to perform transport operations in space, and to further launch vehicles from intermediate orbits to working ones. The relevance of this direction prompted the largest educational institutions of St. Petersburg — Military Space Academy named after A.F. Mozhaisky and Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University to create a creative team to conduct theoretical and experimental research on the development of a new generation ion electric rocket engine.
Nikolai Shunevich, senior researcher at the Victor Martynov Military Institute
To carry out the tests, the article says, high-voltage power supplies, a system for dosed supply of the working fluid, and a device for estimating traction force were created.
The laboratory sample has proven its performance on various types of fuel: xenon, helium, argon, SF6 and air. In the future, such an engine can be used for deep space flights.
The results obtained formed the basis for a number of scientific works, publications, reports and patent research.
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