Nozzle fabrication for micropropulsion of a microsatellite

To enable formation flying of microsatellites, small sized propulsion systems are required. Our research focuses on the miniaturization of a feeding and thruster system by means of microsystem technology (MST). Three fabrication methods have been investigated to make a conical converging–diverging nozzle. These methods are deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), femtosecond laser machining (FLM) and a combination of powderblasting and heat treatment. It is shown that the latter two methods are very promising.