Hydrazine Thrusters

Standard Thrusters
1N Model CHT 1
20N Model CHT 20
400N Model CHT 400

Heritage Thrusters
0.5N Model CHT 0.5
2N Model CHT 2
5N Model CHT 5
10N Model CHT 10

Monopropellant Hydrazine Thrusters.

Thrusters for satellites, spacecraft, space probes and launch vehicle attitude control.

Model CHT 1 N

Astrium's Lampoldshausen Centre first engaged in hydrazine propulsion technologies in 1966. Since that time, the Centre has become an international leader in the development, production and testing of hydrazine thrusters and propulsion systems for commercial, scientific and military spacecraft.

Readily Available Thrust Level Range
During the last 40 years, a wide range of thrust levels were required for the many different programmes. Today, the thruster range has been rationalised to the more frequently demanded 'work horse 'thrusters with the benefit of a consistent production line type manufacturing process. The units currently available are the 1 N, 20 N and 400 N thrusters.

Heritage thrusters, that are no longer produced are included here for completeness and reference purposes.

General Description
Our 0.5 N to 400 N hydrazine thrusters use storable monopropellant N2H4. Thrust is produced by the decomposition of hydrazine as it passes through a catalyst bed.

Thrusters are designed for operation in both steady state and pulse mode operation over a wide pressure range and are thus ideal for propulsion systems operating in blow-down mode.

All thruster combustion chambers and nozzles are manufactured from Haynes 25 alloy. The thruster structure is also designed to serve as a heat shield for protecting the propellant valve and spacecraft structure.

Thrusters are equipped with an internally redundant catalyst bed heater and thermal insulation to guarantee optimum reproducible start-up conditions. Moreover, our thrusters are qualified for multiple cold starts.

Thruster valves are dual seat solenoid type, produced by Astrium and also by external partners. The nominal valve voltage is 28 Volts DC. Thruster performance is identical for both valve types.

Thrust Levels
Our flight qualified hydrazine thrusters range from 0.5 N to 400 N nominal thrust. The 'work horse' thrusters selected for the majority of programmes are the 1.0 N, 20 N and 400 N thrusters.

Flexibility
Customarily, all of our hydrazine thrusters are adapted to specific customer requirements. We supply from thruster and component level through to complete plug-in propulsion modules. Both thruster and complete propulsion systems can be operated over a wide pressure range in both pressure regulated and system blow-down modes.

Propulsion Module
Many of our complete hydrazine propulsion systems are supplied as self contained 'plug-in' propulsion modules. The module, comprises the complete propulsion system together with all of the associated sensors, heaters, thermistors, pressure transducers and harness elements.

The 'plug-in' propulsion module provides just two interfaces to the spacecraft:

A structural interface to the spacecraft.
A single electrical interface via connectors.

Further details of a typical plug-in propulsion modules can be found in the Rocsat 2 page.

Launch Vehicle Applications
Our hydrazine thrusters are also used for launch vehicle roll control and upper stage orientation and precision manoeuvres, as used on the Ariane 5 launcher.

Thruster Availability
Thrusters in high demand are economically produced on a series production line and are therefore readily available, subject to customer specific requirements. Thrusters with less demand are made to order. The current availability status is provided for each hydrazine thruster within the range, shown below:

STANDARD PRODUCTION LINE THRUSTERS
1 N, 20 N, and 400 N thrusters shown below:

1 N HYDRAZINE THRUSTER Model CHT 1

Characteristics Propellant Hydrazine Inlet Pressure Range 5.5 to 22 bar Thrust Range vac 0.320 - 1.1 N Isp vac 200 to 223 sec Total Impulse 112,000 Ns Cycle Life 59,000 cycles Propellant Throughput 52 kg Accumulated Burn Life 50 hours Minimum Impulse Bit 0.01 - 0.043 N Overall length 172 mm Nozzle end diameter 7.6 mm Mass: 0.29 kg More information and Heritage A full European design is also available, fully qualified with European Flow Control Valve, Catalyst Bed Heater and Temperature Sensor. Status: Readily Available Further views of the 1 N hydrazine thruster - click to enlarge. CHT 1 N with i/f mount CHT 1 N with i/f mount CHT 1 N Leak Checking CHT 1 N

20 N HYDRAZINE THRUSTER Model CHT 20

Model CHT 20 Characteristics Propellant Hydrazine Inlet Pressure Range 5.5 to 22 bar Thrust Range vac 7.9 to 24.6 N Isp vac 224 to 230 sec Total Impulse 517,000 Ns Cycle Life 93,130 cycles Accumulated Burn Life 10.5 hours Overall length 195 mm Nozzle end diameter 33 mm Mass: 0.395 kg Heritage Spacecraft Units Launch Year EURECA 11 1982 HAPS 10   XMM 10 1999 Integral 8 2002 METOP 1 - 3 49 2006 Herschel 13 2009 sched. Planck 12 2009 sched. This model is also available with a straight nozzle.   Status: Readily Available

400 N HYDRAZINE THRUSTER Model CHT 400

Characteristics Propellant Hydrazine Inlet Pressure Range 6.0 to 26 bar Thrust Range vac 130 to 455 N Isp vac 214 to 224 sec Total Impulse > 500,000 Ns Cycle Life 6,000 Accumulated Burn Life 1,745 sec Overall length 325 mm Nozzle end diameter 67 mm Mass: 2.7 kg Heritage Spacecraft Units Launch Year ARD 10 1998 Ariane 5 156 + 1996 to present Status: Readily Available

HERITAGE THRUSTERS
0.5 N, 2 N, 5N and 10 N thrusters shown below

0.5 N HYDRAZINE THRUSTER Model CHT 0.5

Characteristics Propellant Hydrazine Thrust vac 0.5 N Power 0.55 kW 0.75 hp Isp vac 227.3 s Chamber pressure 22 bar Overall length 113 mm Nozzle end diameter 4.8 mm Mass 195 g Heritage Spacecraft Units Launch Year OTS 1 and 2 20 1977 - 1978 ECS 1 to 5 40 1983 - 1988 Telecom 1A to 1C 24 1984 - 1988 Marecs A to B2 16 1981 - 1984 Skynet 4A to 4C 24 1988 - 1990 NATO 4A to 4B 16 1991 - 1993   Status: Heritage

2 N HYDRAZINE THRUSTER Model CHT 2

Model CHT 2 with canted nozzle Characteristics Propellant Hydrazine Inlet Pressure Range 5.5 to 22 bar Thrust Range vac 0.60 to 2.0 N Isp vac 210 to 227 sec Total Impulse 112,000 Ns Cycle Life 105,000 cycles Accumulated Burn Life 22.5 hours Minimum Impulse Bit 0.2 to 0.6 Ns Overall length 172 mm Nozzle end diameter 8.6 mm Mass: 0.20 kg Heritage Spacecraft Units Launch Year OTS 20 1978 MCS 24 1981 - 1984 ECS 40 1983 - 1988 Telecom 1 24 1985 - 1988 Giotto 10 1985 Skynet 4 (B) 24 1988 ISO 36 1995 Ulysses 14 1990 Meteosat op. 11 1977 NATO 4 16 1991 - 1993 Status: Heritage

5 N HYDRAZINE THRUSTER Model CHT 5

Model CHT 5 Characteristics Propellant Hydrazine Inlet Pressure Range 5.5 to 22 bar Thrust Range vac 1.85 to 6.0 N Isp vac 216 to 228 sec Total Impulse 112,000 Ns Cycle Life 44,000 cycles Accumulated Burn Life 12.5 hours Minimum Impulse Bit 0.1 to 0.3 Ns Overall length 129 mm Nozzle end diameter 14 mm Mass: 0.22 kg Heritage Spacecraft Units Launch Year Skynet - 4 22 1988 NATO 4 8 1991 - 1993 Hipparcos 9 1989 HAPS 30         Status: Heritage

Supporting Services
Our monopropellant thrusters are manufactured at the Astrium facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany, which is within the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), near Stuttgart.

In support of our products and customers, the Lampoldshausen Centre is able to offer every range of supporting service that you would expect from us, including:

Design, analysis, modelling, manufacturing, AIT of deep space and orbital propulsion systems.
Consultancy: systems, manufacturing, analysis, integration, testing, test stand design etc.
Analysis, modelling, propulsion system simulation and performance prediction.
Thruster design, development, manufacture and production.
Test facilities and test support.
Hot fire testing and all associated activities within the same site.
Test stand and test cell design, maintenance.
Ground support equipment.
Propellant supply and delivery throughout the world.
Complete launch site support.
Safety equipment.

Contact for Further Information
A comprehensive brochure is available on each of our 'off-the-shelf' hydrazine thrusters. Here, you will find more descriptive information, including details of operating characteristics, launch vibration loads, steady state and pulse mode operating envelopes, structural interfaces, thruster dimensioning etc.