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Vasimr plasma rocket targeting 100 hours of continuous operation at 100 kW power level...
This February, the company has worked about halfway through that contract, and Ars has been keeping tabs on progress in the lab. So far, the immigrant from Costa Rica seems to be holding up his end of the bargain. NASA gave the company a sterling review after the first year of the agreement. Still, there is a ways to go. During a visit this month, the VASIMR engine fired at 100kW for 10 seconds and 50kW for one minute.
The goal of this work is to demonstrate a VASIMR® engine in thermal steady-state by operating it continuously for 100 hours at a power level of 100 kW
Objectives
? Achieve the goal over the course of 3 years in 3 phases
? Phase a: Shake-out basic systems, pulses of minutes, uncooled booster section, accumulate 1 hour, inspect
? Phase b: Add cooling to booster section, accumulate 100 hours, inspect
? Phase c: Upgrade rocket core cooling for heat rejection at ≈ 200 °C, shake out high temperature cooling systems, install PPUs in vacuum, execute a 100 hour continuous test, inspect