The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 27, 2019
Filed:
Apr. 02, 2018
Trustees of Boston University, Boston, MA (US);
Keith Andrew Brown, Newton, MA (US);
Brian Michael Walsh, Cambridge, MA (US);
Alexander Reever Stooss, Troy, MI (US);
Trustees of Boston University, Boston, MA (US);
Abstract
A propulsion system for an orbiting vehicle such as a low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite includes a set of surfaces over which a gas passes during orbital flight, and a plurality of electrodes on the surfaces. The electrodes are configured to create an electric field having a spatial field pattern in response to field signals, experienced by passing gas molecules as an oscillating field having a frequency on the order of a polarization-resonance frequency of the molecules to impart a propulsive traveling-wave dielectrophoretic force to the passing molecules. The electrodes extend over sufficient area to impart sufficient traveling-wave dielectrophoretic force to the gas to overcome aerodynamic drag and thereby sustain orbital flight of the vehicle. A power source applies the field signals to the electrodes, providing sufficient power to overcome power lost to aerodynamic drag and thereby sustain orbital flight.