On the critical parameters for feasibility and advantage of air-breathing electric propulsion systems

In recent years, air-breathing electric propulsion emerged as a potential enabling technology for long-duration space missions in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO). In this work, we show how the complex relation between mission environment, spacecraft configuration, and propulsive performance can be associated to a single requirement for full air-breathing drag compensation, which becomes less stringent for higher VLEO orbits. The impact of the spacecraft shape and size on the performed analysis is then evaluated and the results compared with conventional electric propulsion solutions with stored propellant, showing how the adoption of air-breathing propulsion becomes more advantageous, from a volume and mass fraction perspective, when the spacecraft scale is reduced.