Plasma Physics Modeling and Simulations of Electric Propulsion Over the Last Decade at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The first experimental ion engines were launched into orbit in the early 1960s but it was not until the 1990s that their commercial use began in the U.S., followed by the first NASA flight on Deep Space 1 in 1998. Since then only two more spacecraft have been propelled by ion engines to deep space. Hall thrusters followed a similarly long trajectory from the laboratory to deep-space flight. A main challenge that contributed to this protracted path is that electric thrusters are inherently low-thrust, high-exhaust-speed devices that can achieve large DVs with much less propellant than chemical rockets, but they must operate for years in space. Consequently, flight qualification in vacuum facilities can become prohibitively costly and time-consuming. In response, a focused effort in physics-based model development and validation began in the early 2000’s at JPL’s Electric Propulsion (EP) Group. In this presentation I will highlight some of our most notable achievements in the modeling and simulation of plasmas in EP, and discuss their impact on the development, maturation and flight qualification of these enabling technologies for NASA’s deep-space missions.