Miniature 'CubeSat' Satellites Now Propelled by Water
Purdue University researchers introduce a new type of micropropulsion system for miniature satellites called CubeSats that uses an innovative design of tiny nozzles that release precise bursts of water vapor to maneuver the spacecraft. Nanosatellites like CubeSats might be launched to perform a variety of tasks, from high-resolution imaging and internet services, to disaster response, environmental monitoring, and military surveillance. To achieve their full potential, CubeSats will require micropropulsion devices to deliver precise low-thrust 'impulse bits' for scientific, commercial, and military space applications. Read a Tech Briefs Q&A with postdoctoral research associate Anthony Cofer, who helped to develop the technology.
Transcript
00:00:00 - CubeSat is a really small satellite, a 10-centimeter cube. We have our thrust cells which are the 3D-printed parts that you see here. And there's a computer on board as well as a battery on the bottom. They're all connected wirelessly through to our computers. - It's compact and it's very low power and it's green since it uses pure water as a propellant.
00:00:23 There's no volatile chemicals involved, so it makes it safe to bring onto the space station. - music - The inlet is filled with water. There is a straight throat section to the nozzle. There are two heaters to heat the water's meniscus. When they are heated to approximately 50 degrees C, this triggers vacuum boiling of the water which creates water vapor providing thrust. Small thrust is critical because anything
00:00:53 that you start moving, you'll have to stop. If you're trying to adjust the orientation of a satellite, you want to use as little amount of propellant as possible to turn it because you'll have to start it turning, then you'll have to stop it turning. - To be able to do that you need to have highly-controllable attitude control systems like this micropropulsion device. We are able to provide that with this system,
00:01:17 we're just now trying to, instead of just having a theoretical thruster, we're trying to actually make it and to see how controllable we can make it.