Abstract

The design, development, and testing of a small-thruster system with additively-manufacturing key components is presented. The primary issue associated with conventionally-manufactured small thruster systems is the assembly complexity, where the motor case, injector, ignition electrodes, nozzle retainer, nozzle, fuel grain, insulting liner, and other components are fabricated individually and then assembled. For very small thruster systems, this detailed fabrication and assembly process is extremely labor intensive and time-consuming.

Keywords

3-D printing, hybrid rocket, additive manufacturing, electroplating plating, orbital debris mitigation