Technical Project of Ion Propulsion with High-Precision Variable Thrust and IntelligentAutonomous Operation on Orbit

The improvement of spacecraft mission capability and the development of intelligent autonomous technology are inseparable from the support of advanced propulsion system. In the future, with the widespread application of intelligent technology, spacecraft will rely less and less on ground control. In view of the application of high-precision variable thrust ion electric propulsion on the future advanced mission targets such as intelligent super low earth orbit high-resolution remote sensing satellites, drag free flight science satellites, ultra-stable and ultra-static satellites platform and high-precision satellites constellation, etc, this paper analysis current operation mode in orbit and the characteristics of ion electric propulsion such as fine adjustable and controllable electricity and gas flow, the difference between heaven and earth, and the performance decline in the late life, and puts forward the idea and technical scheme of developing intelligent autonomous ion electric propulsion with high precision and variable thrust. The key technologies are identified such as high precision autonomous ratio control small flow technology, intelligent autonomous thrust control algorithm based on high precision and fast data acquisition technology, fault autonomous diagnosis and processing, performance degradation detection and parameters reconstruction. The framework of intelligent autonomous operation electric propulsion system is preliminarily constructed, in order to finally achieve comprehensive goals of the future ion electric propulsion precess optimization, high precision, long life and intelligent autonomous operation.