Colloid thruster

<h2 id="flight-use">Flight use</h2>
<p>Eight electrospray thrusters were first used in space on the NASA ST-7 <a href="/facts/LISA_Pathfinder/QEM75nCt">ESA LISA Pathfinder</a> mission, to demonstrate disturbance reduction.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> Having logged roughly 1,400 hours on-orbit, the <a href="/facts/Busek/SjI17IkE">Busek</a> built thrusters system met 100% of their mission goals for the LISA Pathfinder mission.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
</p><p>By the end of April 2015, <a href="/facts/Busek/SjI17IkE">Busek</a> had developed a smaller electrospray colloid thruster capable of generating 20 mN in a 17.8 x 17.8 x 4.3 cm  (7"×7"×1.7") package.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
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<h2 id="experiments">Experiments</h2>
<p>In July 2013, scientists from <a href="/facts/Michigan_Technological_University/xtGKYofo">Michigan Technological University</a> and the <a href="/facts/University_of_Maryland/Wmc5R1kM">University of Maryland</a> led by Kurt Terhune demonstrated an electrospray system within a <a href="/facts/Transmission_electron_microscope/Rpr8jpCn">transmission electron microscope</a> (TEM). This led to the discovery that the TEM environment formed needle-like structures on the thruster disrupting the way the electrospray system works.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p><p>The <a href="/facts/LunIR/0b4mH9SV">LunIR</a>, formerly known as <a href="/facts/SkyFire_(spacecraft)/0b4mH9SV">SkyFire</a>, nanosatellite, launched on the 16th of November 2022 as a secondary payload on the maiden flight of the <a href="/facts/Space_Launch_System/DbGCgH1W">Space Launch System</a> for a lunar flyby, will demonstrate the use of this propulsion system.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Electrospray_ionization/yNgPJBoB">Electrospray ionization</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ionic_liquid/Ypse8taj">Ionic liquid</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ion_thrusters/cjt6M89p">Ion thrusters</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Taylor_cone/UXjedtQH">Taylor cone</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics-and-astronautics/16-522-space-propulsion-spring-2015/lecture-notes/MIT16_522S15_Lecture22-23.pdf">Colloid Thruster Lecture Notes - MIT</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"ST7 Lisa Pathfinder". busek.com. Retrieved 2016-01-07. <a href="http://busek.com/flightprograms__st7.htm" target="_blank">http://busek.com/flightprograms__st7.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>NASA Microthrusters Achieve Success on ESA's LISA Pathfinder <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6676" target="_blank">https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6676</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>20mN, Variable Specific Impulse Colloid Thruster, Phase II Project. 2015. NASA. <a href="https://techport.nasa.gov/view/9310" target="_blank">https://techport.nasa.gov/view/9310</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Watch a Tiny Space Rocket Work, Allison Mills, Michigan Tech, 8 August 2016, accessed 11 August 2016 <a href="http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2016/august/watch-tiny-space-rocket-work.html" target="_blank">http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2016/august/watch-tiny-space-rocket-work.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Projects". NASA. NASA. May 5, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-08-18. Retrieved 2016-02-05. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150818002418/http://www.nasa.gov/feature/next-space-technologies-for-exploration-partnerships-nextstep-projects/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20150818002418/http://www.nasa.gov/feature/next-space-technologies-for-exploration-partnerships-nextstep-projects/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Colloid thruster open-in-new

Colloid thruster