AUTHOR=Tsifakis Dimitrios , Charles Christine , Boswell Rod 

TITLE=Naphthalene as a Cubesat Cold Gas Thruster Propellant

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physics

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2020.00389

DOI=10.3389/fphy.2020.00389

ISSN=2296-424X

ABSTRACT=<p>The “cubesat” form factor (multiples of 10 × 10 × 10 <italic>cm</italic><sup>3</sup> volume and 1.33 <italic>kg</italic> mass) has been adopted as the defacto standard for a cost effective and modular, nano-satellite platform. Many commercial options exist for nearly all components required to build such satellite; however, there is a limited range of thruster options that suit the power and size restrictions of a cubesat. This work presents the design, implementation and direct thrust measurements of a proof of concept cubesat cold gas thruster system using naphthalene (<italic>C</italic><sub>10</sub><italic>H</italic><sub>8</sub>) as the propellant. The proposed design is optimized for simplicity to match the requirement of entry level cubesat missions, yet, due to the properties of naphthalene, it can achieve a total impulse in the order of tens of newton-seconds.</p>