AETHER Project – Development of Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion

Selected past projects

[2019–2023]

IQM contributed to the AETHER project by developing and testing a Radio Frequency Plasma Generator combined with a Charge Separation Accelerator Stage (CSAS) for thrust generation for RAM-EP operation. The campaign demonstrated stable ignition and sustained operation with xenon and atmospheric gas mixtures, validated thruster resilience across diverse propellants, and confirmed performance in the 7–20 mN range under a 1000 W power envelope. The work also pioneered operation with correct orbital compositions for every chosen altitude, generic spectroscopic diagnostics, and the generation of low-energy particle flows, paving the way for future Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) missions. For the very first time, the high sensitivity of plasma processes within propulsion systems to the incoming atmospheric propellant composition was demonstrated. Another outcome of this project was the demonstration of the feasibility of using the radiofrequency ion sources as particle flow generators, providing a flow of atmospheric propellant with representative energies.

Contract number: EU H2020, SPACE-13-TEC-2019 Grant Agreement No. 870436
Key publications:

  • Andreussi, T., Ferrato, E., Paissoni, C., et al. “The AETHER project: development of air-breathing electric propulsion for VLEO missions.” CEAS Space J 14, 717–740 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-022-00442-3

  • Misuri, T. “AETHER: Development of Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion for VLEO Missions.” Proc. Conference on Aerospace Science and Technology, Naples, 2023.
  • Andreussi, T., Ferrato, E., Kitaeva, A., Paissoni, C. A., Giannetti, V., Piragino, A., Pedrini, D., Rossodivita, A., Schaeff, S., Berenguer, C., Katsonis, K., Kovakova, Z., Neubauer, E., Tisaev, M., Karadag, B., Lucca Fabris, A., Mingo, A., Smirnova, M., Lequang, D., Alsahili, Z., Bariselli, F., Parodi, P., Jorge, P., & Magin, T. E. (2022, June 19–23). Characterization of an atmospheric propellant-fed Hall thruster as a VLEO simulator (IEPC-2022-435). Paper presented at the 37th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. LINK PDF
  • Andreussi, T., Ferrato, E., Paissoni, C. A., Kitaeva, A., Giannetti, V., Piragino, A., Rossodivita, A., Schaeff, S., Katsonis, K., Berenguer, C., Kovacova, Z., Neubauer, E., Tisaev, M., Karadag, B., Lucca Fabris, A., Smirnova, M., Mingo, A., Le Quang, D., Alsahili, Z., Bariselli, F., Parodi, P., Jorge, P., & Magin, T. E. (2021, October 25–29). AETHER air breathing electric THrustER: Towards very low Earth orbit missions (IAC-21,C4,5,x66453). Paper presented at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. LINK