Green Propellants for Satellite Propulsion: An Updated Literature Survey in the Frame of the ESA Project GreenRAIM

Kurzfassung

Within ESA activity GreenRAIM (Green Propulsion System Review, Assessment, Experimental Investigation and Modelling) a literature survey about the current status of green propulsion systems and green propellant research was accomplished. Different mono- and bipropellants were screened and are listed in the following paper. A differentiation is taken in between mono- and bipropellants. It is found, that the monopropellants ASCENT (AF-M315E), LMP-103S, H2O2 and SHP163 are the most mature green monopropellant (blends) with flight heritage. Nevertheless, several interesting candidates in the TRL 3-7 range experience high level of attention from the research community. For non-hypergolic bipropellants nitrous oxide/hydrocarbon combinations are considered the propellant with the most attention in the community with several start-ups offering flight-ready systems and many academic research projects studying the systems. For low thrust applications also, water electrolysis propulsion comes into account. The hypergolic and auto-ignition-based propulsion systems considered in the study are dominated by combinations of hydrogen peroxide with different fuels and additives.