Comparison between two kinds of Hall thrusters - SPT100 and ATON

Abstract

The performances of two Hall thrusters with different designs are compared. The first one, SPT100-ML, is derived from the flight qualified SPT-100. The second thruster, A53, is a prototype developed by French manufacturer SNECMA for its SPT M2 program, following the ATON concepts first developed in Russia by Pr. Morozov. The main differences between these two thrusters are the anode, propellant injection and magnetic field configurations. At nominal operating points, the A53 performances are found to be better: higher specific impulse and efficiencies, lower plume divergence and discharge current oscillation magnitude. During tests of this thruster, two operating modes with different discharge characteristics were observed. The underlying plasma physics are believed to be more complex in an ATON discharge.