MicroNewton Thruster (MNT)

Busek Co., Inc.

Natick, MA

A stable and controllable microNewton colloid thruster that generates and accelerates a stream of nanometer-size charged droplets

• Demonstrated the first prototype of the MNT system with the assistance of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University
• First use of the carbon nanotube (CNT) based electron field emission (FE) neutralizer in electric propulsion
• Demonstration of extremely low noise thrust, of the order of 10^-8 Newton, feed system with no moving parts and the CNT FE neutralizer
• A set of microthrusters will control spacecraft position with nanometer precision

• Busek was selected to provide a set of microNewton thrusters for the Space Technology 7 project (ST7) project as part of the Disturbance Reduction System. Busek will receive $9.9M for this effort
• The space market for the MNT’s could reach several tens of millions of dollars over the next decade

• Will deliver to JPL 3/05 to fly on the NASA New Millennium Space Technology Demonstration Mission (ST7). This project will fly on the NASA/ESA European Spacecraft Smart 2 scheduled for 6/06
• The MNTs will enable future scientific missions such as NASA's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitational wave observatory and the Micro-Arcsecond X-ray Imaging Mission (MAXIM) x-ray interferometer  

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Curator: SBIR/STTR Support