Green Liquid Monopropellant Thruster for In-space Propulsion, Phase II

NASA's future science missions need propulsion systems with demanding performance in challenging environmental conditions, with long operational life, and with high duty cycles. Examples of missions enabled by the proposed propulsion technology include sampling atmospheres of planets, their moons, and other small bodies, descent and landing on their surfaces, returning soil samples from their surfaces in ascent modules, and rendezvous and docking with orbiting mother ships. Missions to the earth's moon, Venus, Mars and its moons, moons of Jupiter, and asteroids are envisioned for applications of our propulsion technology. Applications of the proposed technology to non-NASA agencies include the Air Force, National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO), and the Army. Specifically, the Air Force is interested in liquid thrusters for in-space propulsion, the NRO is interested in fast response, long-life, maneuvering propulsion systems and the Army is interested in the development of green monopropellant based high pressure gas generators for pressurizing gelled propellants. Other potential DoD applications include liquid engines for propelling highly maneuverable, throttlable tactical missiles. More »