Hydrogen peroxide thruster module for microsatellites with platinum supported by alumina as catalyst

Abstract

Development and performance evaluation of a small monopropellant thruster to be used for attitude control of micro-satellites that weigh less than 100 kg is described in the present paper. In this study, we selected hydrogen peroxide as a monopropellant as it poses much less hazard than hydrazine. An 1N-Ievel thruster with a aluminum oxide loaded with platinum in the reaction chamber was fabricated and tested. The four thrusters were integrated with the propellant feed system including the propellant tank, pressurizing gas tank, filter and solenoid valves, and a thruster module was assembled and tested successfully.