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Numerical Simulation Of A Bi-directional Plasma Thruster For Space Debris Removal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2022

Vinod Saini  and
Rajaraman Ganesh Open the ORCID record for Rajaraman Ganesh [Opens in a new window]
Vinod Saini*
Affiliation:
Institute For Plasma Research, Gandhinagar382428, India
Rajaraman Ganesh
Affiliation:
Institute For Plasma Research, Gandhinagar382428, India Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, Maharashtra400094, India
*
†Email address for correspondence: vinod.saini@ipr.res.in
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Abstract

A spacecraft during mission typically switches from chemical propulsion to electric propulsion once it lifts out of the Earth's gravity as the thrust requirement to drive it reduces substantially. Consequently, electric propulsion technology is commonly used for deep space mission, satellite orbit keeping and orbit correction. In the last few decades, the amount of man-made space junk (space debris) has increased enormously and has become a potential danger for space stations, space shuttles and other live satellites. A bi-directional plasma thruster, mounted on a satellite, can be used to remove space debris during satellite operation (Takahashi et al., Sci. Rep., vol. 8, 2018, p. 14417). A directed ion beam ejected from a plasma thruster imparts a net force on space debris to decelerate and facilitates manoeuvring and re-entry of space debris into the Earth's atmosphere where it can burn out. We present a detailed 1D3V PIC-MCC (particle in cell-Monte Carlo collision) simulation of a bi- directional plasma thruster. To this end, a PIC-MCC solver which resolves thruster axial direction and all three velocity dimensions is used to study a magnetic nozzle plasma thruster with both ends open (bi-directional plasma thruster). We show that such a bi-directional plasma thruster can be used to accelerate–decelerate a live satellite and also to remove space debris by altering the magnetic field spatial profile in the plasma expansion region. A detailed study is presented.

Keywords

plasma simulationplasma devicesplasma applications
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 88 , Issue 2 , April 2022 , 905880203
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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