CubeSat Propulsion & Feed Systems

VACCO has developed a specific website that directly addressed the unique nature and needs of the CubeSat community. If you or someone you know is looking for details about hardware to support your next CubeSat mission, you can visit VACCO's Cubesat Propulsion website here!

ChEMS™ Modules & Assemblies

Chemically Etched Micro Systems (ChEMS™) is a patented (#6,334,301) VACCO technology for the production of highly integrated fluid control systems using titanium micro-manifolds. Robust construction, compact size and low mass make ChEMS™ ideally suited for space applications, including:

• Electric Propulsion Feed Systems
• Micro Propulsion Systems
• Electronic Pressure Regulators
   

A wide variety of functional components are available that can be combined to form custom ChEMS™ modules, including the following:

• Integral Electronic Controllers with custom or data bus interfaces, such as RS-422
• Filters ranging from 2µ (microns) to 100µ absolute
• Pressure and temperature sensors ranging from 20 psia to 3,000 psia
• High and low pressure normally-closed valves
• High and low pressure latch valves
• High and low pressure proportional control valves
• Flow resistors
• Cold gas thrusters
• Warm gas thrusters
• Heaters
   

One variation of ChEMS™ technology recently qualified for NASA is the Xenon Flow Control Module.

Xenon Flow Control Module

Xenon Flow Control Module (XFCM) is a fully independent subsystem of ChEMS™ designed to accept storage tank pressure at the inlet (up to 200 bar), which provides two independent, filtered, precision xenon flows directly to electric thrusters.

The latest XFCM is configured for a Hall Effect thruster (HET) with one channel providing flow to the anode and the other to the cathode. Features include:

• Each channel can independently control flow from 3 sccm to 80 sccm (modules deliver over 200 sccm)
• Flow control accuracy is ±3% with internal feedback and ±1% with external feedback
• Flow can be sustained with only 10 psia at the inlet allowing more of the stored propellant to be utilized
• Two fault tolerant against internal leakage (single fault modules available)
• High and Low Pressure Transducers with integral temperature sensors, S-level electronics and 100 krad radiation tolerance
• All-welded titanium construction
• Electronic controller may be provided as an integral part of the module

Xenon Flow Control Module
The Xenon Flow Control module was designed for NASA Glenn Research Center to enable the use of electric propulsion for deep space missions.

To learn more about CubeSat Propulsion Systems, please visit www.cubesat-propulsion.com