CU AEROSPACE (CUA) PROPOSES THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF A FIBER-FED PULSED PLASMA THRUSTER (FPPT) THAT WILL ENABLE CIS-LUNAR AND DEEP SPACE MISSIONS FOR SMALL SATELLITES. WHILE CLASSIC PPT TECHNOLOGY IS MATURE, IT HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN LIMITED BY ITS PROPELLANT LOAD TO PRECISION POINTING AND SMALL DELTA-V APPLICATIONS. A RECENT THRUSTER ADVANCEMENT BY CUA, MONOFILAMENT VAPORIZATION PROPULSION (MVP), ADAPTED EXTRUSION 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY TO FEED POLYMER PROPELLANT FIBER TO A RESISTOJET THRUST CHAMBER. FPPT LEVERAGES THIS ADVANCEMENT BY FEEDING PTFE FIBER TO ITS DISCHARGE REGION, ENABLING CLASS-LEADING PPT PROPELLANT THROUGHPUT AND VARIABLE EXPOSED FUEL AREA. AN INNOVATIVE, HIGHLY PARALLEL CERAMIC CAPACITOR BANK DRAMATICALLY LOWERS SYSTEM SPECIFIC MASS. FPPT IS INHERENTLY SAFE; ITS NON-PRESSURIZED, NON-TOXIC, INERT PROPELLANT AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS MINIMIZE RANGE SAFETY CONCERNS. THE PHASE I EFFORT ACCUMULATED MORE THAN 582,000 PULSES, WITH THRUST-STAND MEASURED IBITS FROM 0.057 0.241 MN-S AT 960 2400 S SPECIFIC IMPULSE, REPRESENTING A DRAMATIC ENHANCEMENT FROM STATE-OF-ART PPT TECHNOLOGY. A PHASE II 1U FPPT THRUSTER WILL PROVIDE 2200 4900 N-S TOTAL IMPULSE, ENABLING 0.4 1.0 KM/S DELTA-V FOR A 5 KG CUBESAT. A 1U DESIGN VARIATION WITH 590 G PROPELLANT ENABLES AS MUCH AS ~10,000 N-S AND 2 KM/S FOR A 5 KG CUBESAT. ADVANCING THE TECHNOLOGY TO A 2U FORM FACTOR INCREASES PROPELLANT MASS TO 1.4 KG AND DELTA-V TO 10.7 KM/S FOR AN 8 KG CUBESAT. CUA ANTICIPATES DELIVERING TO NASA A LIFE-TESTED FLIGHT-LIKE>2,000 N-S 1U INTEGRATED SYSTEM BY THE END OF PHASE II INCLUDING THE ADVANCED THRUSTER HEAD WITH IGNITER SYSTEM, PTFE FIBER FEED SYSTEM, POWER PROCESSING UNIT, AND CONTROL ELECTRONICS.

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