Research Facility

The main research facility of the BUSTLab is the vacuum chamber which is 1.5m in diameter and 2.7m in length. It is used in the development and testing of in-space electric propulsion systems. The established vacuum facility is able to create conditions similar to low earth orbit, even when a thruster is in operation inside the chamber and releasing gas into the chamber. The testing of electric spacecraft thrusters that uses Xenon and Argon gases as propellant can be conducted in this vacuum chamber.

The vacuum chamber is equipped with a mechanical pump which can sustain pressures in the order of 10-3 Torr. After the installation of chiller unit with the cryogenic pump, pressures in the order of 10-8 Torr can be achieved. The special platform inside the chamber provides solid connections for the experimental setups.

On January 13, 2015, the prototype cusped field Hall thruster was fired for the first time. The thruster was operated for 30 minutes at a discharge voltage of 400 V with Argon propellant.