Benefit Analysis for GEO Satellite Applying Electric Propulsion Based on System Model

A comparative method is presented to direct the selection between ion and Hall propulsion for space missions.Based on mature product data of ion and Hall propulsion systems,the dry mass and total mass models for ion and Hall propulsion systems are built.The mass benefits of these two types of propulsion applied to GEO satellites are compared for north-south station keeping and all-electric propulsion,respectively.The results show that, (i) the mass models are applicable to engineering design, (ii) ion propulsion has better mass benefits than Hall propulsion for GEO satellite missions,and (iii) the mass-benefit difference between these two types of propulsion is sensitive to the thruster power,while this sensitivity depends on the speed increment and the launch mass.