Extended Lifetime BHT-350 Hall Effect Thruster

Busek has developed a family of Hall Effect thrusters for small spacecraft, where applications include orbit raising, station-keeping, and interplanetary transfers. This paper introduces the BHT-350-XL, which is an extended lifetime version of Busek’s BHT-350. It is well-sized for operation at 0.2 – 0.5 kW. The paper describes the concept and reports testing carried out with krypton and xenon, including performance and limited duration testing. The BHT-350-XL may be manufactured in tandem with the mass-produced BHT-350.