Mission performance of high-power electromagnetic thruster systems

Electromagnetic thrusters such as the Magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster and Pulsed Inductive Thruster provide the relatively unique capability to process megawatts (MW) of power compactly at specific impulses (I-sp) of 2,000 to 10,000 seconds. This capability is well suited to demanding future missions such as cargo and piloted missions to Mars, in which large payload masses or short trip times require MW power levels. These two thrusters have been modeled at both the performance and system mass level, addressing thruster efficiency, I-sp, voltage and current, and the mass of thrusters as well as their corresponding heat rejection and power processing subsystems. The resulting data have been assessed for representative Mars exploration missions using detailed low thrust trajectory codes in conjunction with the thruster system models. Analyses indicate that the thruster type and technology levels have less impact on overall mission performance than the total power level. For the 2.5 and 5 MW cases considered, the lower power delivered 50% more payload.