VASIMR: The VASIMR: The Future of Space Future of Space

Travel (?)Travel (?)

Kevin Blondino

8 October 2012

What is VASIMR?What is VASIMR? VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma

Rocket – electric propulsion system using accelerated plasma with a magnetic field.

Uses radio waves to ionize and further heat Argon (or Xenon, or Hydrogen)

Low thrust-to-weight ratio Developed by Ad Astra Rocket Company

Possible UsesPossible Uses

Deep space travel/robotic missions (not for leaving Earth’s orbit)

Lunar cargo transport from low-Earth orbit Drag compensation for space stations In-space refueling Satellite maintenance, refueling, and

repositioning

Who is this?Who is this?

HistoryHistory

Development started 1977 in his Ph.D. with magnetic mirrors

First experiment in 1983 at MIT Moved to Houston in 1995 Ad Astra Rocket Company incorporated and

partnership with NASA in 2005 Subsidiary in Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica in

2006 Testing of VF-200 will occur on the ISS in 2015

DesignDesign

to ~6000 K

Current and Past ModelsCurrent and Past Models

VX-10: 10 kW thruster tested in 1998 VX-25: 25 kW in 2002 VX-50: 50 kW also in 2002 VX-100: 100 kW in 2007 VX-200: 200 kW single-thruster VF-200: 2 100 kW thrusters with opposing

magnetic field.

VX-200VX-200

Operating at full power with argon propellant at about 50 km/s exhaust velocity.

Sense of Sense of ScaleScale

VF-200VF-200

Conceptual mock-up

Two 100 kW thrusters with opposing magnetic fields. This makes a zero-torque magnetic quadrapole in order to not interact with the Earth’s magnetic field.

A 2MW solar powered lunar tug concept using 4 VASIMR engines.

ProsPros

Much lower fuel consumption and cost Higher efficiency than chemical propulsion No use of electrodes Almost no moving parts Very durable, and thus reusable Highly scalable

ConsCons

Requires superconducting magnets (low temperature) This requires low temperature cooling Such a strong magnetic field could interfere with other

equipment, and could cause torque (single thruster design). Large power requirement

i.e. lots of waste heat that must be directed away External source may be needed

Solar for near-Earth missions Nuclear

[1] http://www.adastrarocket.com/aarc/VASIMR

[2] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/plasma-rockets.html

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Chang_Díaz

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VASIMR

[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4jf2F3YEAI

ReferencesReferences