Acta Astronautica 157 (2019) 241–249

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Acta Astronautica
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/actaastro

REGULUS: A propulsion platform to boost small satellite missions T

a a b,∗ c a a a
M. Manente , F. Trezzolani , M. Magarotto , E. Fantino , A. Selmo , N. Bellomo , E. Toson ,
D. Pavarina,b
a
Technology for Propulsion and Innovation S.r.l, Padova, Italy
b
University of Padova, Department of Industrial Engineering, Centre for Studies and Activities for Space, Padova, Italy
c
Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Aerospace Engineering Department, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: REGULUS is a propulsion platform for CubeSats. It integrates the Magnetically Enhanced Thruster (MET) and its
CubeSat propulsion subsystems (i.e., fluidic line, electronics, and thermo-structural components) in a 2U envelope of weight lower
RF cathode-less thruster than 3 kg. MET is a RF cathode-less thruster capable of providing thrust in the range 300 μN to 900 μN, with
Subsystem integration maximum specific impulse of 900 s and maximum operation power of 60 W. The performance has been mea-
Low-thrust maneuvers
sured with a dedicated thrust balance, when the thruster is operated with 0.1 mg/s of Xenon gas. REGULUS: (i) is
Drag compensation
compatible with thermal, mechanical and electrical interfaces of the CubeSat platforms available in the marked,
Constellation deployment
(ii) it relies on COTS components to abate the recurrent costs, and (iii) it is based on a passive thermal control
system. The main framework of application of the REGULUS platform is the propulsion of medium-to-large
CubeSats (from 6U up to 27U). Such capability is here demonstrated by comparing MET with other thrusters for
CubeSats offered in the market. The feasibility of two possible mission scenarios, namely drag compensation and
constellation deployment, has been verified through preliminary orbit calculations. The REGULUS platform can
compensate the effects of atmospheric drag on a 6U CubeSat in a 400 km altitude orbit for years. Besides, by
exploiting the natural drift of the ascending node caused by the second zonal harmonic of the terrestrial gravity
field, a CubeSat constellation can be deployed through several planes in some months employing small fractions
of the onboard propellant.

1. Introduction In this scenario, the development of ad hoc propulsion systems is key

Miniaturized satellites have become increasingly common in recent
years because they allow to access space at a markedly lower cost than
classical medium-to-large systems. A further diffusion of small satellites
(e.g., CubeSats [1]) might have a profound effect on the space market:
single countries, regional governments and small companies would be
able to develop and operate their own space service (e.g., to monitor
terrestrial, maritime and air traffic, to detect catastrophic events, to
investigate criminal activities), whereas space agencies and research
institutes could operate low-cost satellites for scientific purposes (e.g.,
Earth observation, Sun monitoring and space science) [2]. However, the
cost reduction brought by developing and launching small satellites is
one of the reasons for the diffusion of this technology. As a matter of
fact, swarms of CubeSats in low-Earth orbit (LEO) could be particularly
well-suited for Earth's observation [3] and scientific research [4,5].
Furthermore, a constellation of interlinked miniaturized satellites may
even perform better than a system concentrated in one large satellite
[6].
in determining the success of the small satellite/CubeSat technology.
Complex missions involving CubeSats [4] require orbit positioning and
maintenance, and these operations can be carried out only with a
dedicated propulsion system. Moreover, the growing concern about the
accumulation of space debris is introducing strict decommissioning
regulations (ISO 24113:2011 [7]), with the consequent need for pro-
pulsion capabilities to execute the corresponding orbit disposal opera-
tions. Integrating a propulsion system in a CubeSat is a very challenging
task because of the intrinsic complexity of a space thruster (several
components are needed such as tanks, valves and pipes) and the strict
constraints and requirements on mass, volume, power and cost of this
class of satellites [8]: the mass of each constituting Unit (U) is of ap-
proximately 1 kg, its size is 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm and the available
electrical power is limited to few tens of watts. This explains why the
first CubeSats were not equipped with a propulsive system, with only a
few exceptions [9–11]. Until 2011, the only propelled Cubesat was the
3U CanX-2 [10,12] employing a cold-gas thruster to perform orbital
corrections. Besides, among the propulsion systems developed in the

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mirko.magarotto@studenti.unipd.it (M. Magarotto).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.12.022
Received 21 June 2018; Received in revised form 12 December 2018; Accepted 16 December 2018
Available online 24 December 2018
0094-5765/ © 2018 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Manente et al.
last years [13], only few satisfy the stringent requirements for CubeSat
applications and are flying in real missions. Over the last five years,
several CubeSats have carried electrosprays, vacuum arc thrusters
(VATs), cold-gas thrusters, pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs), resistojets as
well as solar sails. Examples include the two 1.5U AeroCube-8 launched
in 2016, equipped with the SiEPro electrospray system [9] and the 1.5U
BRICSat-P (2015) featuring four μCAT VATs [14] employed for satellite
detumbling. Examples of CubeSats equipped with a cold-gas micro-
propulsion system are the 3U TW-1A (2015) for Earth observation [15],
the 3U POPSAT-HIP launched in 2014 [16], which operated the pro-
pulsion system for attitude control, and the 3U Delfi-n3Xt CubeSat of
2013 [17], applying the thruster to orbit corrections. The 3U STRaND-1
launched in 2013 carried a PPT for orbital corrections and a water-
alcohol resistojet for attitude control [18,19]. The 3U SERPENS laun-
ched in 2015 used a PPT [20] to counteract orbital decay caused by
atmospheric drag. Solar sail examples are the 3U CubeSats LightSail-A
(2015) [21] and NanoSail-D2 3U (2010) [22].
At present, many companies (e.g., Busek Co. Inc. [23], Accion
Systems [24], Aerojet Rocketdyne [25], Vacco [26], and Enpulsion
[27]) and research centers are developing propulsion technologies for
CubeSats. The specific impulse typically ranges from 40 s to 4000 s,
whereas the thrust is in the interval from μN to N (see Refs. [28,29] for
a more comprehensive review). Among the newly-developed plasma
technologies, cathode-less thrusters are valid candidates for small sa-
tellites owing to their higher simplicity compared with well-established
systems such as the ion and Hall effect thrusters [30]. Cathode-less
thrusters can be divided into two categories, based on the plasma ac-
celeration mechanism employed, i.e., polarized grids [31,32] or mag-
netic nozzle [33]. The latter type includes electron cyclotron resonance
plasma thrusters [34,35], and thrusters operated in the Radio Fre-
quency (RF) range [36–40]. The main components of cathode-less RF
thrusters are (see Fig. 1): (i) a fluidic line which transfers the neutral gas
propellant from a storage tank to the discharge chamber, (ii) a dielectric
tube inside which the neutral gas is ionized, (iii) a RF antenna, in the
MHz frequency range, which generates the electromagnetic (EM) fields
for gas ionization, (iv) magnets producing a magnetostatic field to en-
hance the plasma confinement and to provide the magnetic nozzle ef-
fect downstream the plasma source exhaust. Cathode-less RF thrusters
exhibit a number of interesting features, namely: a very simple struc-
ture, which helps to limit the cost of the system; absence of electrodes
immersed in the plasma, with consequently reduced erosion; adapt-
ability to operate at different input power levels and with a variety of
Fig. 1. Schematic drawing of a cathode-less RF thruster.
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Acta Astronautica 157 (2019) 241–249
propellants [40–42]; no need for a neutralizer because the ejected
plasma is neutral. All these features make the cathode-less RF thruster
particularly suitable to propel small satellites/CubeSats.
In this paper, we present the Magnetically Enhanced Thruster
(MET), a cathode-less RF thruster specifically conceived for CubeSat
propulsion. MET has been developed at Technology for Propulsion and
Innovation S.r.l. (T4i) [43] in collaboration with the Center for Studies
and Activities for Space (CISAS) of the University of Padova. The main
design drivers, which made the realization of MET very challenging, are
the miniaturization (the mass is close to 0.4 kg), the low power con-
sumption (<60 W), and the achievement of good propulsive perfor-
mance (i.e., thrust from 300 μN to 900 μN and specific impulse up to
900 s). The REGULUS propulsion platform integrates MET and its sub-
systems into a 2U volume. Specifically, REGULUS consists of the MET
thruster, the fluidic line, the electronics, and the thermo-structural
subsystems. The integration aimed at: (i) a total envelope not exceeding
a 2U volume, (ii) passive thermal control, (iii) compatibility with the
thermal, mechanical, and electrical interfaces of the CubeSat platforms
available in the market [44,45], (iv) use of Commercial Off-The-Shelf
(COTS) components to abate the recurrent costs. The effort put in
miniaturizing MET/REGULUS while preserving the thruster perfor-
mance makes this system fully suitable to propel CubeSats with size
between 6U and 27U. The intended applications are orbital maneuvers:
for example, atmospheric drag compensation in LEO and orbit insertion
maneuvers for individual satellites and for constellation deployment.
The REGULUS platform has currently reached a Technology Readiness
Level (TRL) of 6, whereas vibration, thermal vacuum, and EM com-
patibility qualification tests are planned for the second quarter of 2019
and an in-orbit demonstration (IOD) is targeted for 2020.
Section 2 illustrates the design and performance features of MET
and offers a comparison with other CubeSat thrusters. Then, the REG-
ULUS platform is presented in Sect. 3. Some application scenarios are
discussed in Sect. 4, and the conclusions are drawn in Sect. 5.
2. The Magnetically Enhanced Thruster
MET (see Fig. 2) fits within a cylinder of 55 mm diameter and
120 mm length and its mass is of roughly 0.4 kg. The discharge chamber
has a cylindrical shape up to the nozzle which is conical. The latter is
made of hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) which offers good thermal and
electrical properties: the maximum working temperature is above 1000
∘
C, the dielectric strength is in the range 80–100 ac-kV/mm, and the
loss tangent is extremely low [46]. The RF antenna of S-Helicon type
[47] surrounds the discharge chamber. The magnetostatic field is
generated by two rings of radially-polarized permanent magnets of
samarium cobalt (Sm2Co17) disposed around the discharge chamber.
The residual magnetization [48, Chapt. 6] of the Sm2Co17 magnets is
very high (1.16 T), and the maximum working temperature is close to
250 ∘C. The resulting magnetostatic field exhibits two cusp regions close
to the magnets, and the field lines downstream the plasma chamber are
divergent; i.e., this field geometry produces a magnetic nozzle effect
(see Fig. 3). The frame of the thruster is made in aluminum (Al) and is
electrically grounded. The Al frame acts also as a Faraday cage, re-
sulting in a reduction of the EM interference.
2.1. Working principle
In order to illustrate the working principle of a cathode-less
thruster, it is worth to treat the phenomena that govern the plasma
dynamics inside the discharge chamber and in the magnetic nozzle
separately. The dense plasma production ( 1019 m−3) is governed by
the propagation of whistler waves [49] in the discharge chamber.
Specifically, the power deposition phenomena comes from collisional
processes [50, Chap. 7.4] which dump such EM waves. In addition, due
to the motion of charged particles and the diffusion processes that
contribute to the achievement of a stable discharge, the density
M. Manente et al.
Fig. 2. Picture (right) and layout (left) of the MET laboratory model. The layout does not display the metallic rod employed to interface MET with the thrust balance
used for the performances evaluation.
Fig. 3. Schematic drawing of the magnetic configuration of MET. Dimensions
are normalized with respect to the discharge length L and the discharge radius
R.
production is non-uniform [51]. The resulting density gradient greatly
modifies the wave structure so that radial non-uniformity can create
localized waves [52]. Therefore, the key physical phenomena that
govern the plasma dynamics in the discharge chamber are the EM wave
propagation, the plasma transport and their mutual coupling.
The magnetic nozzle region extends downstream the plasma source.
Here the plasma is accelerated and eventually detaches from the mag-
netostatic field lines. The magnetic nozzle region is characterized by the
formation of a plume where the plasma is more rarefied than in the
source (density in the range 1016 –1018 m−3) [53]. Two regions, respec-
tively called near and far, can be discriminated within the plume de-
pending on the phenomena that govern the plasma dynamics [54]. In
the near region, particle collisions and the geometry of the applied
magnetostatic field drive the plasma behaviour. Instead in the far re-
gion, the expansion of the plasma is mainly governed by the thermal
pressure, and the ambipolar diffusion.
2.2. Performance
The performance of MET has been measured at the CISAS high
vacuum facility, where the thruster has been tested inside a 2 m long
cylindrical vacuum chamber with an inner diameter of 0.6 m, con-
nected to a pumping system with a capacity of 12600 l/s of N2 [55]. The
RF power has been provided to the thruster by a Spin HFPA-30 linear
amplifier (1.8–30 MHz, power up to 300 W) driven by an HP 8648A
signal generator. A MKS 1179B mass flow controller has been employed
to regulate the propellant flow injected into the discharge chamber [56,
Chapt. 2.1]. The equipment employed for the characterization of MET
includes a thrust balance, specifically designed for RF thrusters of
small-to-medium size [57], and RF probes for vector voltage and
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Acta Astronautica 157 (2019) 241–249
current measurement [56, Chapt. 2.1]. The former determines the
thrust and specific impulse generated by MET with an uncertainty of
10–20%, whereas the latter allows to monitor the net power provided
by the amplifier to the RF antenna of the thruster with an uncertainty of
few percentage points. In particular, the thrust balance is calibrated by
means of known masses and the uncertainty is calculated with a Monte
Carlo algorithm which accounts for the zero-position drift induced by
the thermal gradients (see Ref. [57] for further details).
Fig. 4 illustrates the performance features (i.e., thrust T, and specific
impulse Isp ) of MET when operated at a 0.1 mg/s mass flow rate of
Xenon (Xe) propellant, an RF antenna working frequency of 2 MHz and
an input power Pw in the range 15–60 W. During the test session, the
vacuum chamber pressure was maintained at 10 5 mbar. It should be
noted that both the RF power and the propellant mass flow are provided
by laboratory instruments and not by miniaturized subsystems for flight
applications; however, the input for the tests of Fig. 4 is compatible
with the capabilities of the REGULUS platform. The thrust and the
specific impulse are linear functions of power, and the maximum thrust
(specific impulse) achieved at 55 W is 850 μN (850 s). MET can work
also at reduced power levels (the lowest value plotted in Fig. 4 is 15 W)
although with reduced performances (thrust down to 300 μN). In turn,
it can be easily calculated that the thrust efficiency depends linearly on
the power, and the maximum measured value has been 7% at 55 W.
2.3. Comparison with other CubeSat thrusters
Table 1 reports the main performance parameters (i.e., thrust T,
specific impulse Isp and power consumption Pw ) of MET and other
eleven CubeSat thrusters [23,24,27–29] (the reader is referred to
[28,29] for a more comprehensive list). Cold-gas thrusters, like NA-
NOPS and AFRL, provide relatively high thrust (up to tens of mN) and
their architecture is simple, therefore suitable to CubeSats, but the
achieved specific impulse is very low (50 s at most). These thrusters
have been employed in technology demonstrations of formation flight
[10,12]. Chemical monopropellant thrusters (e.g., MPS 130 by Aerojet
Rocketdyne) can find application in missions for which high thrust, up
to 1 N, is required (e.g., for orbit insertion). However, the highest
achievable specific impulse is of a few 10 2 s only. The performance le-
vels and the applicability of resistojets are similar to those of cold-gas
thrusters. A higher specific impulse (up to a few 10 2 s) can be obtained
from the former, but at the expense of a more complicated architecture
and an increased power consumption (up to a few watts). PPTs (e.g.,
PPTCUP) and VATs (e.g., μCAT) generate very low thrust (tens of μN)
and very high specific impulse (103 s) and the power requirements are
only of a few W. As a result, these technologies are suitable to very
precise positioning and attitude control. FEEPs (e.g., IFM Nano Thruster
by Enpulsion) achieve medium thrust (lower than <1 mN) with very
high specific impulse (thousands of seconds), and moderate input
power (up to 50 W). Electrospray thrusters (e.g., TILE 500, and BET 1)
are characterized by high specific impulses (roughly 1000 s) obtained
M. Manente et al. Acta Astronautica 157 (2019) 241–249

Fig. 5. Schematic drawing of the REGULUS platform.

medium thrust (about 1 mN) with high specific impulse (thousands of

seconds), but they are demanding in terms of power (up to 100 W).
Cathode-less RF thrusters provide medium thrust levels (1–2 mN) and
have good specific impulse (up to 1000 s) with moderate power input
(50 W). FEEP, electrosprays, RF ion thrusters and cathode-less RF
thrusters are all suitable for drag compensation and orbital corrections
of formations of medium-to-large CubeSats (i.e., beyond 6U). Finally,
between the two RF cathode-less types presented in Table 1 (i.e., RTF
and MET), the latter is more suitable for missions in which a high
specific impulse is required (e.g., drag compensation), while the former
qualifies better for applications requiring high thrust (e.g., fast orbit
corrections).

3. REGULUS

The REGULUS platform integrates MET with the electronics, fluidic,

Fig. 4. Experimental characterization of MET. The system is operated with and thermo-structural subsystems in a 2U envelope with a total mass
Xenon gas, the propellant mass flow rate is 0.1 mg/s and the working frequency below 3 kg (Fig. 5 shows a layout of the platform). REGULUS has been
is 2 MHz: thrust T, and specific impulse Isp as functions of the power Pw pro-
designed to propel CubeSats with size between 6U and 27U. Therefore
vided to the RF antenna. Both T and Isp are affected by an uncertainty of
much effort has been devoted not only to achieve good propulsive
10–20%; the uncertainty on Pw is of a few percentage points.
performances with a relatively compact system, but also to drastically
reduce the recurring costs. Materials and components (e.g., high-relia-
Table 1 bility COTS electronics and fluidic valves) have been selected as a smart
Performance parameters of some CubeSat thrusters. The first column gives the compromise between performance and cost. REGULUS has been de-
name and the manufacturer; the second column indicates the technology; the signed with standard mechanical interfaces [44,45] in order to be easily
remaining columns list the thrust T, the specific impulse Isp and the power integrated in commercially available platforms. The communication
consumption Pw .
protocol between REGULUS and the SpaceCraft (S/C) is I2C [58], and
Thruster - Manufacturer Technology T [mN] Isp [s] Pw [W] the electronics subsystem is powered with 12 V DC current provided by
the bus. The thermal control system is passive; specifically, the heat
NANOPS - SFL cold gas 35 46 – generated by the propulsive system is dissipated through a metallic
AFRL - VACCO cold gas 3.5 47 –
MPS 130 - Rocketdyne monopropellant 1000 244 –
radiator on the outer surface of the platform (see Sect. 3.3).
Microresistojet - Busek resistojet 10 150 10
PPTCUP - Mars Space PPT 0.04 900 2
μCAT - GWU VAT 0.02 3000 10
3.1. Electronics subsystem
IFM Nano - Enpulsion FEEP 0.35 4000 40
TILE 500 - Accion electrospray 0.4 1250 15 The design of the electronics subsystem aims at satisfying the tight
BET 1 - Busek electrospray 0.7 800 15 requirements of CubeSat platforms: the electronic boards fit within a
BIT 3 - Busek RF ion 1.1 2100 75
100 mm× 200 mm surface which can be conveniently partitioned to be
RFT - Phase Four RF cathode-less 2.7 500 50
MET - T4i RF cathode-less 0.9 900 60 installed inside the REGULUS platform (see Fig. 5). In order to ease the
integration of REGULUS with the S/C, all the boards are supplied with
12 V DC current by the bus. Then, in order to limit the costs, only COTS
with a limited amount of power ( 10 W). In addition, these systems are components have been employed. The electronics subsystem is com-
particularly compact and can be clustered to obtain medium thrust posed of a Power Control Unit (PCU) and a Power Processing Unit
levels (i.e., up to 1 mN). RF ion thrusters (e.g., BIT 3 by Busek) achieve (PPU). The functional scheme is illustrated in Fig. 6. The PCU converts

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M. Manente et al. Acta Astronautica 157 (2019) 241–249

Fig. 6. Schematic drawing of the electronics subsystem (left), and picture of the laboratory model of the PPU (right).

the commands from the S/C into appropriate time sequences for the laboratory model of the fluidic line has been successfully employed to
PPU, and sends telemetry data (e.g., absorbed power, fault signals, di- propel MET.
agnostics output) to the S/C. The communication protocol between the
S/C and the PCU is I2C [58]. The PPU provides RF power to the thruster
and DC power to the fluidic valves and to the diagnostics installed in 3.3. Thermo-structural subsystem
the platform (e.g., temperature and pressure sensors). The efficiency of
the PPU is 90%. In order to minimize the thermal loads exerted on the S/C, a built-in
Special effort has been devoted to the development of the PPU (see Thermal Control System (TCS) has been conceived. The principal
Fig. 6 for a picture of the laboratory model), which is a critical com- thermal constraints imposed to the REGULUS platform are the fol-
ponent because the electrical efficiency must be maximized around the lowing: (i) temperature of the magnets not exceeding 200 ∘C, (ii) the
2 MHz operative frequency of MET (around 90% in CubeSat systems radiator, adopted to evacuate the heat generated by the thruster, must
[59,60]) whereas the volume budget reaches fractions of a U [60]. In be placed on the external surface of the platform (see Fig. 8), (iii) di-
addition, the PPU design aims at decreasing both the development costs mensions of the radiator smaller than 10 cm x 10 cm, (iv) at least 80%
and the recurring costs. Hence, the circuital architecture is complex of the thermal load must be evacuated from the radiator. The archi-
(push-pull MosFets connected to an output transformer), but entirely tecture adopted to fulfill these requirements: (i) is completely passive,
based on high-reliability COTS (i.e., low-cost) elementary components. (ii) relies on a high temperature circuit to evacuate the heat generated by
the thruster, (iii) exhibits a low temperature circuit the remaining com-
ponents with the S/C. Specifically, in the high temperature circuit the
3.2. Fluidic subsystem radiator, the nozzle and the discharge chamber are put in thermal
contact and insulated from the rest of the satellite (see Fig. 8). For the
The fluidic subsystem provides a fixed Xe mass flow rate of 0.1 mg/s sake of safety, the system has been designed in such a way as to fulfill
to the thruster. Miniaturized COTS components have been employed in the thermal requirements even in case the power to be dissipated is as
order to obtain a compact system at a limited cost. The scheme of the
fluidic subsystem is shown in Fig. 7. The Propellant Tank (PT) is filled
through a Fill Valve (FV) and monitored with a Temperature Sensor
(TS) and a Pressure Sensors (PS). Specifically, the former is a PT100 and
the latter a piezoresistive absolute pressure sensor; both signals are
acquired by means of dedicated Wheatstone bridges (see respectively
[61,62] for further details). The PT is connected to the rest of the fluidic
line through a Filter (FILT) ensuring the purity of the Xe propellant. A
Mechanical Pressure Regulator (MPR) maintains the pressure level of
roughly 1 bar upstream an Orifice (OR), which is designed to provide
the desired mass flow rate (see Ref. [63] for further details). The mass
flow is monitored by a combined TS and PS measurement system. Fi-
nally, the thruster is connected to the fluidic line through two Low
Pressure Latch Valves (LPLVs), set up in parallel for redundancy. A

Fig. 8. Schematic drawing of the unity in which the thruster is integrated

(electronics not displayed). The radiator and the nozzle (which form the high
temperature circuit with the discharge chamber) are in thermal contact and are
Fig. 7. Schematic drawing of the fluidic subsystem. The meaning of the ab- insulated from the rest of the satellite (e.g., thruster housing and frame) which
breviations is provided in the text. constitute the low temperature circuit.

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Table 2 Table 4
Equilibrium temperature estimated at the WHC for some of the Maneuver duration ( t ), velocity variation ( V ), fuel consumption ( m ) for
main components of the REGULUS platform. The FEM simu- basic orbital transfers causing altitude variation (top section), inclination
lation has been performed with the commercial software change (middle section) and node shift (two bottom sections) as functions of
SolidWorks. initial altitude (circular orbit). The maximum inclination and node variations
obtainable by employing all the onboard propellant (1 kg) are reported at the
Component Temperature [∘C]
end of each section. Note that for the fixed propellant consumption case, t and
Discharge chamber 360 V are independent of the type of maneuver performed.
Nozzle 300
h (km) 400 500 600 700 800
Radiator 285
Magnets 75 t (hours) ∼2 ∼2 ∼2 ∼2 ∼2
h = 1 km
Frame 70 V (m/s) 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5
m (g) <1 <1 <1 <1 <1
h = 10 km t (hours) 18 18 18 18 17
Table 3 V (m/s) 5.7 5.5 5.4 5.3 5.2
Characteristics of the 6U Cubesat used for the orbital maneuver simulations. m (g) 5 5 5 5 5
h = 100 km t (days) 7.5 7.4 7.2 7.1 6.9
S/C parameters Value Units V (m/s) 56.1 54.8 53.7 52.6 51.5
m (g) 50 49 48 47 46
Dry mass mf 6 kg i = 1 degree t (days) 28.4 28.2 28.0 27.8 27.6
Propellant mass mp 1 kg V (m/s) 210.6 209.1 207.6 206.1 204.7
Specific impulse Isp 800 s m (g) 185 184 183 181 180
Acceleration a 8.6 10 5 m/s2 i = 3 degrees t (days) 85.3 84.7 84.1 83.5 82.9
Front section area A 0.2 × 0.3 m2 V (m/s) 631.8 627.2 622.7 618.3 614.0
Drag coefficient Cd 2.2 – m (g) 541 538 534 530 527
m = 1 kga i (degrees) 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.9
i = 30 degrees:
= 1 degree t (days) 14.2 14.1 14.0 13.9 13.8
high as 60 W (i.e., the overall maximum power provided to the V (m/s) 105.3 104.5 103.8 103.0 102.3
thruster). m (g) 93 93 92 91 91
The thermal design has been verified by means of Finite Element = 3 degrees t (days) 42.7 42.3 42.0 41.7 41.5
Method (FEM) simulations performed with the commercial software V (m/s) 315.9 313.6 311.4 309.1 307.0
m (g) 276 274 272 270 269
SolidWorks [64]. In particular, the REGULUS platform has been as-
m = 1 kga (degrees) 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.7 11.8
sumed to operate in a geocentric orbit of radius 6678 km, the solar i = 60 degrees:
constant equals 1423 W/m2; moreover, the emittance and the absorp- = 1 degree t (days) 24.6 24.4 24.3 24.1 23.9
tance of both the radiator and the nozzle are of 0.9 and 0.15 respec- V (m/s) 182.4 181.1 179.8 178.5 177.2
tively. The resulting equilibrium temperature, estimated in the Worst m (g) 161 160 159 157 156
= 3 degrees t (days) 73.9 73.3 72.8 72.3 71.8
Hot Case (WHC) [65, Chap. 11] for some of the main components of the V (m/s) 547.2 542.2 539.3 535.5 531.7
REGULUS platform, is shown in Table 2. The hottest part of the system m (g) 471 468 469 462 459
is the discharge chamber which is in direct contact with the plasma m = 1 kga (degrees) 6.6 6.7 6.7 6.8 6.8
(i.e., roughly 360 ∘C). The temperature of each component stays within
a
the prescribed limits (e.g., permanent magnets temperature of 75 ∘C), t = 163.4 days, V = 1209.8 m/s.
and the power dissipated to the radiator is roughly 50 W (i.e., more
than the 80% of the thermal load). equation assuming an initial mass equal to the wet mass mp + mf . The
maneuver duration t is obtained from the definition V = a t .
4. Applications

The intended applications of MET are orbital maneuvers. For this
reason, a series of simulations have been conducted to assess the per-
formance of this thruster in some basic orbital transfers (Sect. 4.1).
Then, two mission scenarios have been analysed, namely station
keeping against drag-induced orbital decay (Sect. 4.2) and constellation
deployment (Sect. 4.3).
The S/C considered is a 6U CubeSat with the characteristics re-
ported in Table 3. In order to provide conservative estimates of the
simulated quantities, the acceleration a imparted by the propulsion
system is assumed constant and equal to that caused by a thrust of
0.6 mN on the wet mass of the satellite (7 kg). The conversion factor g0
from specific impulse (s) to propellant exhaust velocity (m/s) is 9.81 m/
s2. Other than the thrust of the engine, the S/C is subjected to the
gravitational attraction of a spherical homogeneous Earth (radius
R = 6378 km and gravitational parameter GM = 4 105 km3/s2, Sect.
4.1), with the addition of atmospheric drag (1976 US Standard Atmo-
sphere [66]) or terrestrial oblateness effects ( J2 = 1082 10 6) de-
pending on the case (Sect. 4.2 and Sect. 4.3, respectively). All simula-
tions have been conducted for initial circular orbits with altitude
between 400 and 800 km and, when relevant, for selected values of the
inclination. The velocity variation V caused by the thruster depends
on the specific maneuver considered, whereas the mass variation m
(i.e., the consumed propellant) is computed in all cases with the rocket
4.1. Orbital performance
The most efficient way to transfer between two circular coplanar
orbits of radii r0 and r1 consists in applying tangential thrust in the or-
bital plane [67]. The required amount of propellant m , the velocity
variation v and the time t required to complete the maneuver for
altitude increases h of 1, 10 and 100 km from the selected initial al-
titudes are reported in Table 4 (top section).
Inclination changes are obtained by uninterrupted thrusting per-
pendicular to the orbital plane with inversion of the direction of thrust
at the anti-nodes [67,68]. The required amount of propellant m , the
velocity variation v and the time t required for inclination changes
i of 1 and 3 degrees at the given altitudes are reported in
Table 4(middle section). The maximum i variation that the available
propellant allows to obtain and the corresponding maneuver duration
are also given. Observe that in this model the performance is in-
dependent from the initial inclination.
Thrusting perpendicular to the orbital plane is also used to produce
node changes [68]. Continuous maneuvering over one or more re-
volutions requires thrust direction inversion at the line of nodes. The
required amount of propellant m , the velocity variation v and the
time t required for node changes of 1 and 3 degrees at the given
altitudes and for two values of the inclination (i.e., 30 and 60 degrees)

246
M. Manente et al.
Fig. 9. Monthly fuel consumption (left) and interval between maneuvers (right) for drag compensation at different heights, based on thruster actuations of 10 min
duration. The time interval between maneuvers at h = 400 km is of 9 h, whereas the propellant consumption at h = 800 km is virtually zero.
Fig. 10. Plane separation time (left) and phase shift time (right) for constellation deployment from an insertion orbit of 400 km, as functions of the altitude h of the
nominal orbit, the orbital inclination and the altitude difference r between the nominal and the intermediate orbit, respectively. Results are expressed in days.
are reported in Table 4(last two sections). The maximum variation
that the available propellant allows to obtain, the corresponding velo-
city variation and maneuver duration.
4.2. Drag compensation
Drag compensation to maintain a given circular orbit is executed by
thrusting parallel to the orbital velocity. The dynamical model con-
sidered accounts for the attraction of the homogeneous spherical Earth
and the atmospheric drag:
GM 1
r¨ = r Cd A v v,
r3 2 (1)
r being the S/C geocentric position vector, r the geocentric distance, v
the orbital speed, v its magnitude and ρ the atmospheric density at the
given height. For this specific application, MET has been assumed to
operate over intervals of 10 min duration, a conservative assumption
which ensures that the thruster works at the steady state (i.e., the thrust
provided can be considered constant). With the simulation parameters
specified in Table 3, the time between consecutive thruster operations
of 10 min duration required to cancel the effect of drag at each height
are shown in Fig. 9(right). The left plot of Fig. 9 provides the corre-
sponding monthly fuel consumption. The orbital decay between con-
secutive maneuvers is negligible (smaller than 25 m) at all heights.
4.3. Constellation deployment
The deployment of satellite constellations can be achieved in an
efficient way by exploiting natural gravity perturbations [69]. In par-
ticular, the differential rate of nodal precession due to the ellipsoidal
geopotential (i.e., the J2 -induced node precession) offers a method to
247
Acta Astronautica 157 (2019) 241–249
separate orbital planes in RAAN.1 From a common insertion orbit, an
in-plane maneuver (i.e., a circle-to-circle coplanar orbit transfer for
example) is executed to bring one or more satellites to an orbit with a
different rate of nodal precession, and such orbit could be the nominal
mission orbit. A drift period is allowed in order to achieve the correct
angular separation in RAAN before the second battery of satellites is
transferred from the insertion altitude to the same orbit. The process is
repeated for all the planes of the constellation. Fig. 10(left) illustrates
the time (in days) required to deploy all the planes of a constellation as
a function of the altitude h of the nominal orbit and of the inclination of
the planes. The insertion orbit is circular at an altitude of 400 km.
Computations have been performed for MET with the simulation
parameters of Table 3. The map has been truncated at a maximum time
of 400 days. Observe that, given the insertion and nominal altitudes and
the orbital inclination, the time required to carry out the plane se-
paration does not depend on the number of planes, but only on the
angular separation between the first and the last plane. Here, such se-
paration is assumed equal to 180 degrees and can be achieved in 150
days if the nominal orbit has an altitude of at least 750 km. For a
constellation consisting of three equally spaced planes (plane separa-
tion of 120 degrees) this time interval reduces to 120 days. The pro-
pellant cost of the plane separation operation is only attributable to the
altitude change maneuver, which in the case considered here never
exceeds 100 g (per satellite).
The required phase shift among the satellites that populate one
orbital plane is achieved by moving temporarily each satellite to an
appropriately sized intermediate orbit (radius r + r , altitude variation
maneuver) which is then followed during a number of revolutions, so as
1
The method was patented in 1990 by King and Beidleman [70].
M. Manente et al.
to introduce the desired time (or phase) shift with respect to the
nominal path. Eventually, the satellites are moved back to the nominal
altitude. This is the situation represented in Fig. 10(right) which shows
the time (in days) required to achieve a phase shift of 180 degrees
(worst case) as a function of the nominal altitude of the constellation
and of the altitude increase to the intermediate orbit. The highest
propellant cost is of 50 g per satellite and corresponds to an inter-
mediate orbit which is 50 km higher than the nominal orbit. The longest
phase shift operation takes 24 days including the altitude changes.
5. Discussion and conclusions
The REGULUS propulsion platform integrates the MET RF cathode-
less thruster and its subsystems (i.e., electronics, fluidic line and
thermo-structural) in a 2U envelope. Great effort has been paid to make
REGULUS suitable to propel medium-to-large size CubeSats (i.e., from
6U to 27U). Specifically, the main design drivers have been:
• Ensuring good propulsive performances with thrust in the range
from 300 μN up to 900 μN and specific impulse reaching 900 s.
• Providing a compact system (2U volume envelope and mass lower
than 3 kg) easily integrable with the standard CubeSat platforms
available in the market (e.g., use of adapted I2C communication
protocol).
•
Minimizing the recurring costs (e.g., PPU and fluidic line rely only
on COTS components) and the complexity of the system (i.e., fixed
mass flow rate provided by the fluidic line and fully passive thermal
control system).
The REGULUS platform is currently at TRL 6. Vibration, thermal
vacuum, and EM compatibility qualification tests are planned for the
second quarter of 2019 and an IOD is targeted for 2020.
The performances of MET have been measured at the CISAS high-
vacuum facility. The thruster has been fed with a 0.1 mg/s mass flow
rate of Xenon, the input power has been provided in the range 15–60 W,
and the working frequency has been of 2 MHz. Thrust and specific
impulse show a linear dependence on input power; at 60 W the at-
tainable thrust is 900 μN and the specific impulse 900 s. Therefore,
REGULUS seems particularly suited to propel CubeSats from 6U to 27U,
where the need for a thrust in the mN range justifies the moderate
power consumption.
Preliminary calculations demonstrate that REGULUS can be suc-
cessfully employed to carry out basic orbital transfers, such as altitude
variations of tens or even hundreds of km with fractions of the available
onboard fuel and requiring days or weeks for their completion. Also the
orbit maintenance against atmospheric drag is extremely cheap (less
than 3.5 g of fuel per month) at all heights in the range considered, and
causes negligible disruption to normal operations given the long time
intervals (from 9 hours to 100 days) between consecutive firings.
Finally, the performance of MET has been assessed against a more
complex scenario, i.e., the deployment of a large number of satellites on
equally spaced planes and uniformly separated in each plane. By ex-
ploiting the natural drift of the ascending node due to J2 , the fuel
consumption per satellite required to set up such type of systems can be
kept below 150 g. Furthermore, for planes far from polar inclinations,
the deployment time can be made as low as 150 days if the maximum
angular separation to be achieved is of 180 degrees. For closer planes
this time interval decreases: for example, it takes 120 days to deploy
three equally spaced planes (plane separation of 120 degrees). It has to
be noted that the low propellant cost of the planes deployment opera-
tion leaves wide margin for the execution of orbit maintenance man-
euvers. This may extend the lifetime of the satellites, thus compensating
for the loss of mission time associated to the constellation construction.
It is worth recalling that the realization of any orbital maneuver re-
quires attitude control, but this topic is beyond the scope of the present
work.
248
Acta Astronautica 157 (2019) 241–249
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