Peculiarities of Determination of Self Electromagnetic Emission from Pulsed Plasma Thrusters

As part of the electric propulsion system integration with spacecraft, it is mandatory to verify its electromagnetic compatibility. Considering that electric propulsion systems of almost all types can operate under space conditions only, determination of their electromagnetic emission in ground conditions is not a simple task. This paper discusses the peculiarities of determining self electromagnetic emission from pulsed plasma thrusters under ground conditions. The international experience in studying emissions from such thrusters is analyzed, and approaches to designing test facilities are formulated. Experimental results obtained for the ablative pulsed plasma thruster APPT-50, which was developed at the Research Institute of Applied Mechanics and Electrodynamics of the Moscow Aviation Institute, are compared with similar results for foreign analogs. On the basis of comparison, the possibility of obtaining preliminary estimates for the spectrum of emission from pulsed plasma thruster was confirmed when using metallic vacuum chambers equipped with radio-transparent windows to transmit the emission to the apertures of the pick-up antennas.