Erno Raumfahrttechnik Gmbh

Manfred Steenborg

Dietrich Ehrig

A thermal arcjet propulsion plant is particularly constructed for position and orbit corrections in a space flying body or spacecraft. A housing forms an anode and an expansion nozzle. An elongated rod mounted in an electrically insulating manner centrally in the housing forms the cathode which reaches with its tip into a plenum chamber just upstream of the nozzle. Propellant components formed by dissociating ammonia are injected into the plenum chamber. A small gap is provided between the tip of the cathode and the restrictor of the nozzle. An arc is ignited in this gap and the thermal arc energy is taken up by the by propellant. A dissociation chamber for the by propellant is arranged around the housing. The arrangement is such that the chamber in which the gas dissociation takes place is arranged in series with and upstream of the plenum chamber. The cathode is also arranged in series with the restrictor and the nozzle. The cathode is connected through a flexible electrical conductor to an electric power supply. Similarly, the housing forming the anode is connected to the same power supply. The dissociation chamber includes a catalyst for a catalytic and/or thermal dissociation of the ammonia into its components of hydrogen and nitrogen.

Arcjet for a space flying body

A thruster is described which is utilized, especially among other applications, for the tracking or orbital correction of a spacecraft, which comprises a housing configured as an anode, an expansion nozzle and a rod-shaped electrically insulated cathode centrally retained therein. The cathode is disposed in a combustion chamber into which propellant or propulsive gases are injected. The tip of the cathode is spaced so as to form a small air gap from the constricted cross-section of the nozzle neck. An electric arc is ignited between the anode and the cathode during the gas flow, from which arc the propellant gases receive additional thermal energy.

Thruster for spacecraft

In a fuel supply system for a space missile or a spacecraft in which the thrusters are supplied with liquid or gaseous fuel from a fuel tank in which the tank pressure decreases continuously during the operational life of the system, the fuel throughput and thus the thrust of the respective thruster or thrusters is maintained substantially constant by the arrangement of a constant flow device in the fuel line between the tank and the reaction chamber of the system. The constant flow device is a self regulating pressure loss device realized by increasing or decreasing the through-flow area of the device in response to changing fuel supply pressures.

Constant fuel supply device for a thruster

A high performance propulsion thruster especially for the attitude and orbit control of space craft or flying bodies in space, is equipped with a heating-up device for the propulsion gas flowing to a nozzle. The heating device is constructed with at least two electrical resistance heating elements for increasing the reliability and the specific impulses. The heat generated by the at least two electrical resistance heating elements is applied to a gas guide conduit which is integrated with the heating device. The gas guide conduit is made of a high temperature resistant metal or of a ceramic material. The heating device, or rather its units are constructed as modular units, preferably integrated with modular gas guide conduits. Thus, a plurality of such modular units can be combined to easily satisfy the requirements regarding dimension of such units and regarding the specific impulse of such units.

High performance propulsion thruster, especially for attitude and orbit

A thruster particularly for maneuvering space vehicles is provided with a device for decomposing liquid fuel into gaseous components. It includes the decomposition chamber and a heating device downstream for further heating and decomposing the gaseous products. The heater is preferably a coiled tube disposed in the inner one of two concentrically nested sleeves, the space between them being a part of a recuperative heat exchanger. The coiled tube ends in the thrust producing nozzle while its other end is connected to the space between the nested tubes.

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Ritterhude, Germany

Manfred Steenborg