Discharge feasibility in ablative pulsed plasma thrusters using space debris

With the rapid growth of human space exploration activities, the number of space debris has increased rapidly, which has seriously hampered the activities of deep space exploration and also threaten the safety of spacecraft. In this paper, a new method is examined in order to reduce space debris. Pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) that use main components of space debris as propellant has been tested in the ignition experiments. The changes of discharge voltage and propellant mass have been recorded during the experiments. Results have indicated the lower the melting point of propellants, the greater the average ablated mass and the better the performance. Moreover, the life of satellite could be prolonged by using space debris as propellant.