Magnetic Fields and Ion Thruster Beam Effects in DLR’s EP Test Facility

Abstract

In-space electric propulsion is in a phase of rapid growth, and satellite contractors implement more and more electric thrusters. For on-ground testing DLR operates since the end of 2011 an electric propulsion test facility at its site in Göttingen. This EP test facility has several special features tailored to electric space propulsion testing, e.g. a large vacuum chamber with low vibration foundation, low sputtering beam dump target, and a performant pumping system. In this paper we investigate the impact of magnetic fields on plasma and ion beams exiting a thruster. Such an analysis is of importance if beam propagation and impingement on other objects have to be addressed. The presence of a magnetic field, e.g. the Earth magnetic field, may influence and deflect a beam over a longer distance. This paper shows the technique used to investigate this phenomenon and gives first results of recent experiments. The test thruster has been our RIT10/37, a gridded ion engine. A large magnetic coil produces a magnetic field which has the level of a few times the Earth magnetic field strength. The beam was detected with the new far field beam scanning system LDBS.