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ESA Propulsion Laboratory

ESA Propulsion Laboratory

The ESA Propulsion Laboratory (EPL) is an operational facility at ESTEC in the spacecraft propulsion testing field.

The ESA Propulsion Laboratory (EPL) is an operational facility at ESTEC in the spacecraft propulsion testing field. The EPL provides test services to the ESA Propulsion and Aerothermodynamics Division, which is responsible at European Space Agency for R&D activities and support to projects in the areas of chemical propulsion, electric and advanced propulsion and aerothermodynamics.

Contact

For general enquires regarding this TEC location please refer to the assigned contacts:

José Gonzalez Del Amo

Laboratory Manager

Davina Di Cara

Deputy Laboratory Manager

For testing requests, access to lab facilities, training and consultancy services, please refer to:

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Measurements for electric and cold-gas thrusters and components

When applicable, the EPL also provides technical advice and support to external organisations for subjects related to propulsion testing and test facilities. Much of the Lab’s work involves characterising engine performance during firing. EPL holds an ISO 9001 certificate and can perform measurements for electric and cold-gas thrusters and components. It exploits in-house procedures, which have demonstrated to be reliable and repeatable for measuring thrust, mass flow and electrical parameters related to propulsion system operations, along with related calibration processes. The laboratory offers also the possibility to perform endurance test campaigns, useful to verify the thrusters performance evolution over time. They can be extended for hundreds or even thousands of hours at a time.

LAB FACILITIES

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Vacuum chambers

Lab incorporates seven vacuum chambers of various sizes – from a maximum 2 m in height and 5 m in length down to a compact 0.8 m by 1 m – customised for testing different types of engine. Test facilities have dedicated pumping system to reach pressure range from 10-5 mbar down to 10-9 mbar. Temperature and humidity conditions are continuously monitored and maintained at 23° ± 5°and 50% ± 20% respectively, and the Laboratory is served by an uninterruptible power supply.

Four vacuum chambers are located above a 4.2 x 16.6 m concrete slab of 160 tons known as the Seismic Isolation Block. This block can be raised up on eight pneumatic dampers to filter external vibration. To damp seismic ‘cross-talk’ between experiments running on the block, smaller isolation blocks can be jacked up within individual chambers. Mechanical isolation from the laboratory is maintained by passive damping and has a 1 Hz cut-off frequency with a 20 dB per decade roll-off. The seismic block has a natural resonance of 0.8 Hz.

Vacuum chambers

Experiments require extremely accurate measurements of thrust force down to millinewton and micronewton levels, so the Laboratory has collaborated with external specialists to develop custom-made thrust stands.

With higher-power engines, plume force damage is minimised using beam targets and plume diffusers. Electrostatic probes acquire plume charging data while mass spectrometers and gas analysers are available to measure plume composition. Flow measurements of thruster propellants are also made.

Propulsion Components Test Bench

Pressure drop characterisation of components or sub-assemblies for chemical propulsion devices, such as injectors and valves, may also be performed at EPL using the flow rig. The test bench allows water-hammer experiments to measure pressure peaks due to the fast opening/closing of valves. In the area of aerothermodynamics, a sloshing bench is used to perform experiments for code validation using standard liquids such as water. The facility is also used to validate different measurements techniques.

Instruments & technical parameters

Water Flow/Water Hammer Test Rig

Performance testing of chemical propulsion components and subassemblies
Water flow check
Pressure drop characterisation
Injector spray pattern

Sloshing Test Bench

EPL Diagnostics Systems

Thruster plume characterization is a critical measurement for electric propulsion thrusters. EPL has been performing such a measurement using various electrostatic probes such as Faraday cups or Langmuir probes since the foundation of the laboratory. However, in an effort to standardize the measurement method, EPL has adopted a common design for beam diagnostics:

The Faraday cup is used for beam current density; the collector is biased slightly positively to limit secondary electrons to disturb the measurement while the shell is biased negatively to repel the electrons. Typically, the probes are moved in space to map the intensity of the plume and determine the divergence.
The Retarding Potential Analyzer (RPA) is used for ions energy analysis; the design is similar to a Faraday cup with a grids system (up to 3x at EPL) that repels the ions with threshold energy. Hence, ions energy distribution is obtained.
The Langmuir probe is used to determine plasma parameters; single filament and triple filaments probes are used at EPL. The latest design allows instantaneous measurement of the plasma potential without having the need to sweep the voltage applied to the probe.

Vacuum chambers Instruments & technical parameters

7 CHAMBERS:

#1 FEEP

#2 Galileo

#3 Gigant

#4 Corona

#5 Electron

#6 MicroNewton

#7 SPF

Main chamber dimensions [m]

Ø0.8 x 1.3

Ø1 x 1.2

Ø1.6 x 2.5

Ø2 x 5

Ø0.8 x 0.5

Ø0.5 x 0.65

Ø2 x 4

Auxiliary chamber dimensions [m]

Ø0.3 x 3

Ø0.4 x 0.8

Ø1 x 1.2

PUMPS:

Scroll

Rotary

Roots Blower

Turbo

Cryogenic Pump

Cryogenic Head

Ion Pump

Pumping Speed [L/s]

5,000 (N2)

23,600 (Xe)

53,400 (Xe)

80,000 (Xe)

260 (N2)

500 (N2)

25,000 (Xe)

Beam target

Yes

Bake–out system

Yes

EPL Thrust Balances Instruments & technical parameters

Instruments

Range

Uncertainty (best practice)

Resolution

Description

Alta 1–axis optical thrust stand

5-500 mN

±2 mN

Variable

Inversed pendulum with optical strain gauges

Alta Low thrust balance

0.2 - 10 mN

±2 mN

Variable

Inversed pendulum with laser displacement probe

Mettler–Toledo AX504

500 g = 5N

±10 µN

0.1 mg ≡ 1 µN

Modified commercial load–cell

Mettler–Toledo XP2004S

2.3 kg = 23N

±10 µN

0.1 mg ≡ 1 µN

Modified commercial load–cell

NPL micro–thrust balance

1 µN – 1 mN

±0.1 µN

0.1 µN

Null–force folded pendulum (under development)

IRS Impulse Thrust Balance

ìNs - mNs

Modified commercial load–cell

ICL Thrust Balance

1- 600 mN

Flexures dependant

±0.1 mN

Modified commercial load–cell

XPR2004SC

2.3 kg

±0.1 mg

Modified commercial load–cell

Services

Testing

Performance Evaluation
Qualification Tests & Validation Tests
Test Methods Development
Life Testing
Anomaly Investigations
Characterisation

Measurements

Thrust Measurement
Efficiency/Specific Impulse Measurement

Simulation

Modelling
EcosimPro Simulation Tool Applied to Propulsion System Modelling

Simplified Access to Labs

Equipment accessible

ESA.INT FEED

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