For European space missions the importance of electric propulsion is strongly growing and has recently experienced a real burst in the telecom market. The initial drivers of this development were programs of the European Space Agency and projects of the European national space agencies. In addition, electric propulsion is now on the priority list of European commercial satellite manufacturers. Actual programs target orbit raising and station keeping with full electric propulsion for telecom satellites. European space industry, represented by individual companies, has developed specific and generic solutions for the electronics dedicated to powering and controlling electric propulsion systems. The European Space Agency and the European Union providing support for enabling technology related to Power Processing Units (PPUs) and increasing competitiveness.

For European space missions the importance of electric propulsion is strongly growing and has recently experienced a real burst in the telecom market. The initial drivers of this development were programs of the European Space Agency and projects of the European national space agencies. In addition, electric propulsion is now on the priority list of European commercial satellite manufacturers. Actual programs target orbit raising and station keeping with full electric propulsion for telecom satellites. European space industry, represented by individual companies, has developed specific and generic solutions for the electronics dedicated to powering and controlling electric propulsion systems. The European Space Agency and the European Union providing support for enabling technology related to Power Processing Units (PPUs) and increasing competitiveness. I. European Missions and Technology HE first European space mission with electric propulsion has been flown in 1992. Since this time a variety of electric propulsion (EP) concepts have been studied and many of them have been implemented in recent, actual and coming missions. Latest successful milestone in European EP achievements is the GOCE satellite operating with the QinetiQ T5 ion engines for drag compensation in low earth orbit. It has reached its end of life after a very successful mission from 2009 to 2013. Another great example is AlphaSat where electric propulsion is used for NorthSouth Station Keeping (NSSK), which is in orbit since July 2013. Close to launch are the BepiColombo and Small Geo spacecrafts. A key element accompanying the various thruster evolutions is the development of electronic 1 Earth Explorer Missions Department, matthias.gollor@esa.int, AIAA Member 2 Electrical Engineering Department, andreas.franke@esa.int. 3 CEO, w.dechent@asp-equipment.de. 4 Lead Engineer, u.schwab@asp-equipment.de. 5 Data Handling & Power Conversion Department, guillaume.glorieux@airbus.com. 6 Data Handling & Power Conversion Department, michael.boss@airbus.com. 7 Data Handling & Power Conversion Department, nicoletta.wagner@airbus.com. 8 Electric Propulsion Technical Management, Javier.Palencia@airbus.com. 9 Space Platform and Robotics Engineering, paolo.galantini@selex-es.com. 10 Sales and Marketing Manager, giovanni.tuccio@sitael.com. 11 PPU Product Line Management, eric.bourguignon@thalesaleniaspace.com. T American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 1 equipment, dedicated to operate the thrusters by providing power, often at high voltage level, with their challenging impedance behavior and demanding control functions. European electric propulsion thrusters are developed and/or manufactured by the companies AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology) Seibersdorf in Austria (Indium-FEEP, Pulsed Plasma Thruster), AIRBUS-DS in Germany (RIT with RIT-10 and RIT-22, μN-RIT, Indium FEEP with AIT Seibersdorf), AIRBUS-DS in UK with the ROS2000 (Hall Effect Thruster), SITAEL in Italy (Cesium-FEEP, HT 100, HT 400, HT 5k Hall Effect Thrusters, and xenonoptimized resistojets and arcjets) SNECMA in France with the PPS-1350-G, PPS-1350-E, PPS-5000 (Hall Effect Thrusters), QinetiQ in UK with the T5 and T6 Kaufmann ion engines and Thales in Germany (HEMP-T 3050). Furthermore, Hall Effect thrusters (SPT-100) from FAKEL in Russia are also used. Companies currently providing highly developed products of PSCU and PPU electronic equipment in Europe are: • ASP Advanced Space Power Equipment, Germany • CRISA in Tres Cantos, Spain • Airbus DS in Friedrichshafen, Germany • Airbus DS in Elancourt, France • Selex ES (formerly Galileo Avionica and Selex Galileo) in Nerviano, Italy • SITAEL in Pisa/Bari, Italy • Thales Alenia Space Belgium (ETCA) in Charleroi, Belgium The Table 1 gives an overview of actual and recent European electronics developments for EP with reference to thruster applications and status. More details on the mission and the related development on the electronics are given in the following chapters. Details on the first successful mission ARTEMIS and the PCU developed by Selex ES driving the RIT-10 can be found in reference . Today the future of Electric Propulsion is represented in the actual roadmaps of the European Space Agency, by the national agendas of several ESA member states and has been recognized as topic of the Technology Program of the European Commission. I. ASP Advanced Space Power Equipment GmbH in Germany HE company has been founded in 2002 by experienced space power engineers and has established a broad range of space power products in the meantime. For electric propulsion a development was made regarding a PPU for iMPD thrusters . The focus of the development is put on a high efficient light weight design. The PPU provides two independent high voltages for the iMPD thrusters. The charge output provides a voltage of 1,3kV to charge up the capacitor of the iMPD. This ignition output provides a voltage of 20kV and is connected to the cathode of the iMPD in order to ignite the thruster. A special charge up circuitry provides a constant power charge up to the capacitor with the advantages of reduced required peak power at the input and reduced input filter requirements. For safety reasons a proper insulation is mandatory on the parts with High Voltage. Internal needed low level auxiliary voltages are generated by the PPU itself. The Input Voltage range is 24 to 32 V, input power is 100Wmax and the Ignition Frequency 1Hz. The PPU is designed to charge up the capacitor in less than 1s. This allows a firing rate of the thruster of 1Hz. The efficiency of the PPU is approx. 85%. In standby mode the PPU consumes less than 1.3W. The PPU is controlled via three galvanic isolated bi-level commands via optocouplers inside the PPU. For monitoring the status of the PPU three galvanic isolated open collector and two analog signals are provided. The PPU has been developed to support researching activities in the context of the Magneto-Plasma Dynamic thruster. It fulfills the TRL of an elegant breadboard. The model is shown in Figure 1. The design is principally fit for space use, even if that is not foreseen for this particular PPU. In order to provide a cost effective solution commercial level EEE parts will be applied. The PPU was delivered in 2012. T Figure 1 PPU for an iMPD Thruster American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2 Table 1 (Part 1): Overview of European Propulsion Electronic Developments and Applications Company Equipment Max. Voltage Power Application/Functionality Year of Delivery/Use Status ASP (Germany) PPU for iMPD 20kV& 1.3kV 100W EBB for thruster research (design & packaging suitable for space) 2012 Elegant Breadboard