10 N Bi-ProPellaNt thrusterReliable contRol of laRge spacecRaft

10 N

all the space you need

10 n bi-propellant thruster

Heritage

The 10 N thruster is a small rocket engine for attitude-, trajectory- and orbit-control of large satellites and deep space probes.

It can look back on more than 40 years use in space. Over three thousend units have controlled numerous international scientific and commercial spacecraft to date.

The thruster has experienced multiple improve-ments in the course of its 40 years life and the innovation for product improvement still continues.

The thrusters are equipped with propellant valves from either Astrium or foreign suppliers, depending on customer‘s request. The thruster is an All European Product when equipped with the Astrium valve.

10 n bi-propellant thruster

10 N Thruster in Space

Over 130 spacecraft were eqipped with Astrium‘s 10N thrusters since 1974. The table below starts with the year 1998. For earlier satellites please contact Astrium, Propulsion & Equipment. (* Spacecraft will be launched in the near future)

Spacecraft Launch

AFRISTAR 1998

AMC-5, GE-5 1998

EUTELSAT W2 1998

HOT BIRD 4 1998

HOT BIRD 5 1998

SINGASAT 1998

SINOSAT 1998

Arabsat 3A 1999

EUTELSAT W3 1999

ORION 2 1999

ASIASTAR 2000

ASTRA 2B 2000

CLUSTER II 2000

CLUSTER II 2000

EUTELSAT W4 2000

HISPASAT 1C 2000

NILESAT 2 2000

ARTEMIS 2001

Atlantic Bird 2 2001

EURASIASAT 2001

Eurobird 2001

SICRAL 2001

ASTRA 1K 2002

Atlantic Bird 1 2002

EUTELSAT W5 2002

HOT BIRD 6 2002

HOT BIRD 7 2002

MSG FM1 2002

Stellat 2002

Hispasat 1D 2002

STENTOR 2002

AMOS 2 2003

HELLAS SAT 2 2003

MARS EXPRESS 2003

AMC-9, GE-12 2003

Amazonas 2004

EUTELSAT W3A 2004

Intelsat 10-02 2004

ROSETTA 2004

Anik F1R 2005

Inmarsat4 FM1 2005

Inmarsat4 FM2 2005

MSG FM2 2005

GEi1 2005

GEi2 2005

Spacecraft Launch

Syrakus 3A 2005

Apstar 6 2005

Venus Express 2005

EUROSTAR 2013 2006

EUROSTAR 2014 2006

Hot Bird 8 2006

HB7A, APA2 2006

Syrakus 3B FM2 2006

Koreasat 5 2006

THAICOM 5 2006

Anik F3 2007

Star One C1 2007

Galaxy 17 2007

RC1 2007

Chinasat 6B 2007

Skynet 5A 2007

Skynet 5B 2007

AMOS 3 2008

Astra 1M 2008

EUROSTAR 2015 2008

Hot Bird 9 2008

Inmarsat4 FM3 2008

Nimiq-4 2008

Star One C2 2008

Turksat 3A 2008

CIEL2 2008

Chinasat 9 2008

Skynet 5C 2008

Amazonas-2 2009

Hot Bird 10 2009

MILSAT-A 2009

W2A 2009

W7 2009

Thor-6 2009

Palapa D 2009

SICRAL 1B 2009

Arabsat 5A 2010

Arabsat 5B 2010

Astra 3B 2010

COMS 2010

KA-SAT 2010

MILSAT-B 2010

Nilesat 201 2010

RASCOM-2 2010

W3B 2010

Spacecraft Launch

Arabsat 5C 2011

Astra 1N 2011

Atlantic Bird 7 2011

Ekspress AM4 2011

W3C 2011

YAHSAT 1A 2011

Alphasat PFM *AMERISTAR *AMOS 4 *ARSAT *ARSAT 2 *Astra 2E *Astra 2F *Astra 2G *Astra 5B *BepiColombo *CESASAT *DirecTV 15 *Ekspress-AM4R *Ekspress-AM7 *EUROSTAR3007-12 *Eutelsat 3B *Eutelsat 9B *ExoMars Orbiter *GAIA *INMARSAT2 *LISA-Pathfinder *MEASAT 3B *MSG FM3 *MSG FM4 *W6A *Yamal 402 *W3D *Sicral2 *AthenaFidus *Apstar7A *Apstar7B *SES-6 *SK5D *SmallGEO *TELECOM2 *W5A *WORLDSTAR 4 *YAHSAT 1B *

10 n bi-propellant thruster

Design Description

Three types of propellant flow control valves may be applied:

thruSterS10-21 with single seat, mono-stable, torque motor valve (foreign supplier)

thruSterS10-18 with dual seat valve, consisting of an upstream latch valve and a downstream mono-stable valve (foreign supplier)

thruSterS10-26 with dual seat valve, consisting of an upstream latch valve and a downstream mono-stable valve (Astrium)

The thruster performance is identical for all valves.

The 10 N bi-propellant thruster uses the storable propellants Monomethylhydra-zine MMH as fuel and pure Di-Nitro-

gen-Tetroxide N2O4, or Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen (MON-1, MON-3) as oxidizer. It is designed for both, long term steady state and pulse mode operation. It operates in a wide pressure range at regulated pres-sure as well as in system blow down mode.

Combustion chamber and nozzle are made of a Platinum alloy that does not need any surface coating. It allows operational temperatures up to 1,500° C (2,700° F) and thus maximum thruster performance.

The un-coated surface is absolutely resistant against oxidization and and thus it is invulnerable to mishandling, to application of test sensors and to millions of pulse cycles.

Trimming orifices between valve and injector provide for individual adjustment of the propellant flow, according to the designed system pressure. The application of heaters and thermistors for thermal control is provided on request.

10 n

Thruster Model S 10-21

Thruster Model S 10-18 Thruster Model S 10-26

10 n bi-propellant thruster

Characteristics

characteriSticS MetricDiMenSionS iMperiaL/uSDiMenSionS

Thrust, Nominal 10 N 2.2 lb

Thrust Range 6.0 … 12.5 N 1.4 … 2.8 lb

Specific Impulse at Nominal Point 291 s

Flow Rate, Nominal 3.50 g/s

Flow Rate, Range 2.30 … 4.20 g/s

Mixture Ratio, Nominal 1.65

Mixture Ratio, Range 1.20 … 2.10

Chamber Pressure, Nominal 9 bar 130 psi

Inlet Pressure Range 10 … 23 bar 145 … 335 psi

Throat Diameter (inner) 2.85 mm 0.11 inch

Nozzle End Diameter (inner) 35 mm 1.38 inch

Nozzle Expansion Ratio (by area) 150

Mass, Thruster with single Seat Valve 350 g 0,8 lb

Mass, Thruster with dual Seat Valve 650 g 1,5 lb

Chamber-Nozzle Material Platinum/Rhodium

Injector Type Double Cone Vortex

Cooling Concept Film & Radiative

Propellants, Fuel MMH

Oxidizer N2O4, MON-1, MON-3

Valve, Single Seat Bi-propellant torque motor valve, mono-stable

Valve, Dual Seat a) Two in one bi-propellant torque motor valves

b) Two in one bi-propellant dual coil actuator valves

Mounting I/F to S/C Valve flange with 3 through-holes of 6.4 mm (1/4’’) diameter

Tubing I/F per SAE AS4395E02 or welded

Valve Lead Wires 24 AWG per MIL-W-81381

Thruster heater and Thermal Sensor On request

Qualified single burn life 15 hours

Qualified accumulated burn life 70 hours

Qualified cycle life 1,000,000 cycles

ranDoManDSinuSoDiaLVibration

The thrusters are qualified to withstand sinus and random vibration at the shown levels.

10 n bi-propellant thruster

Launch Vibration Loads

These loads represent both, launcher loads and amplification by the spacecraft. The loads are ap-plied at the thruster mounting flange.

ranDoM-axiaL ranDoM-LateraL

ranDoM-SinuSoDiaL

10 n bi-propellant thruster

Steady State Operation

SteaDyStateperforMance600thruSterS

The average specific impulse of the tested thrusters is 291 sec. The maximum deviation of individual thrusters to this average is 2 %. A min. Isp of 287 sec is contractually guaranteed.

thruSteroperationrange

The thruster operates reliably within a propellant pressure range from 10 to 22 bar at the valve inlets. The boundaries are given by stability and tempera-ture limits.

Each thruster is individually adapted to the propelllant feed system of its spacecraft. The actual thruster operation point during a mission may shift within the qualified range, depending on the actually occurring tank pressures. The thruster may be operated at both, regulated and blow down pressure mode.

SteaDyStateperforManceSpecificiMpuLSe

The specific impulse (Isp) is the measure for the thruster-efficiency. The higher the Isp, the better the thruster. Generally, the Isp of a thruster depends on various operational parameters, it is never constant for the entire operation range. The nominal Isp of 291 sec refers to the nominal thrust level of 10 N. The thruster achieves an Isp up to 298 sec when operated at maximum thrust.

DutycycLeQuaLification

The thruster qualification program includes extensive pulse mode testing at numerous combinations of Valve On and Valve Off times, ranging from milliseconds to seconds.

10 n bi-propellant thruster

Pulse Operation

puLSeMoDeperforMance,iMpuLSebit

The single impulse bits are nearly independent on Valve Off times. This is a consequence of the thruster’s low dribble volumes and of the totally optimized thruster design.

puLSeMoDeperforMance,SpecificiMpuLSe

Full thruster efficiency is achieved for pulse durations over 500 milliseconds. The efficiency is naturally lower as shorter the pulse, since start up and shut off time of the combustion are approaching the total pulse duration.

puLSeMoDeperforMance,iMpuLSebitrepeatabiLity

Impulse bit repeatability is of major importance for an efficient use of the thruster. Even under worst case conditions, namely minimum Valve On and maximum Valve Off times, the thruster shows excellent performance repeatability.

10 n bi-propellant thruster

Structure Interface

thruSterS10-21

Valve, Single Seat, Torque Motor

Dimensions

Structure Cut Out

Structure Cut Out

thruSterS10-18

Valve, Dual Seat, Dual Torque Motor

Dimensions

Structure Cut Out

thruSterS10-26

Valve, Dual Seat, Dual Coil Actuator

Dimensions

astriumProPulsioN & equiPmeNtD 81663 Munich, GermanyPhone: +49 (0) 89 607 32480 · Fax: +49 (0) 89 607 85480Hartwig.Ellerbrock@astrium.eads.netwww.space-propulsion.com · www.astrium.eads.net

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