Hydrazine Thrusters

0.5N Model CHT 0.5
1N Model CHT 1
2N Model CHT 2
5N Model CHT 5
10N Model CHT 10
20N Model CHT 20
400N Model CHT 400

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.

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.

Depending on the thruster model, combustion chamber and nozzle are manufactured from either Haynes 25 or platinum 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 / dual coil solenoid type, produced by our long standing partner, MOOG, East Aurora, USA. Both solenoids are mechanically and electrically decoupled from each other. The valve is available in either a 16 Volt or 28 Volt model. 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:

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 diameter 4.8 mm Mass 195 g Heritage Spacecraft Units OTS 1 and 2 20 ECS 1 to 5 40 Telecom 1A to 1C 24 Marecs A to B2 16 Skynet 4A to 4C 24 NATO 4A to 4B 16   Status: Made to Order

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 diameter 7.6 mm Mass: 0.29 kg More information and Heritage A non-ITAR 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

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 diameter 8.6 mm Mass: 0.20 kg Heritage Spacecraft Units OTS 20 MCS 24 ECS 40 Telecom 1 24 Giotto 10 Skynet 4 24 ISO 36 Ulysses 14 Meteosat op. 11 NATO 4 16 Status: Made to Order

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 diameter 14 mm Mass: 0.22 kg Heritage Spacecraft Units Skynet - 4 22 NATO 4 8 Hipparcos 9 HAPS 30       Status: Made to Order

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 diameter 33 mm Mass: 0.395 kg Heritage Spacecraft Units EURECA 11 HAPS 10 XMM 10 Integral 8 METOP 49 Herschel 13 Plank 12 This model is also available with a straight nozzle.   Status: Made to Order

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 diameter 67 mm Mass: 2.7 kg Heritage Spacecraft Units ARD 10 Ariane 5 156 Status: Readily Available

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.