Deep Space transportation enhanced by 20kW-class Hall Effect Thruster

Deep Space (DS) is the new frontier for the human exploration and Moon and Mars are the acknowledged final destinations. Improving the capability of in-space transportation has been recognized as the critical enabler for a sustainable and affordable space program, also in the Near-Earth Orbit (NEO) environment. Envisioning the presence of future DS infrastructures, the cargo transferring becomes a major issue that could be enhanced by improved in-space propulsion capabilities. The turning point could be represented by Electric Propulsion (EP) thanks to the combination of higher available on-board power and extended operational lifetime, exploiting technology advancements, such as Magnetic Shielding and cluster configuration. High-power Hall Effect Thrusters (HET) represent the most promising solution for these missions, thanks to a higher thrust-over-power ratio with respect to Gridded Ion Engines. Reusable HET platforms could represent a valid alternative to the chemical ones in supporting human presence in DS, delivering food, oxygen, and water from Earth, as well as propellant from different sources. In this paper, the typical mission and system analysis tools have been exploited to analyse the identified scenarios and emphasizing the impact of SEP and reusability on the scenarios themselves. Then, the corresponding electric platforms have been designed considering the adoption of a 20kW-class HET string, sizing those subsystems that are most affected by this critical technology and providing the mass and power budgets. Moreover, the feasibility of each scenario is assessed considering the needs derived from the traffic plan in terms of loading/unloading cargo, transfer duration, and further mission and physical constraints owing to the adoption of high-power electric propulsion. Eventually, the different platforms have been compared with respect to the possible commonalities among their electric propulsion architectures, in compliance with mission guidelines of modularity and affordability. Main results are presented, and main conclusions are drawn.