CuSP Propulsion System

Performance density: 231 N-sec/L

VACCO’s cold gas Micro Propulsion System (MiPS) provides attitude control and orbital maneuvering. SWRI’s CuSP program utilizes VACCO’s cold gas system to achieve highly reliable propulsion while serving as a space weather station.

The VACCO CuSP MiPS is approximately 0.3U in volume and uses four 25 mN cold gas thrusters to develop 69 N-sec of total impulse that provides 8.8 m/s of delta-V for an 8 kg CubeSat. Each thruster independently operates to perform both delta-V and ACS maneuvers through an integrated microprocessor controller.

Features

  • Integral aluminum fluid control manifold and low friction, space grade valves
  • All welded tank construction contains 177 g of propellant
  • Integrated microcontroller and RS-422 interface enable high-level commands from the host spacecraft
  • Low power with < 1 Watt for health and status monitoring
  • Easily configured for different propellants
    • R-134a
    • R-236fa
  • Performance density: 231 N-sec/L

CuSP Propulsion System Datasheetpdf-icon

Operating Parameters

Propellant R236fa
MDP 6.89 Bar (100 psia)
Proof Pressure 10.34 Bar (150 psia)
Burst Pressure 17.24 Bar (250 psia)
Internal Leakage <0.5 scch R-236fa
External Leakage <1.0 x 10-6 sccs GHe
Operating Temp -15°C to +55°C
Non-Operating Temp -24°C to +55°C
Total Impulse @10°C 69.4 N-s
Dry Mass 0.513 kg Max
Wet Mass 95% Fill @ 10°C 690 g Max
Operating Voltage 9.0-12.6 VDC
Standby Power 1 W Max
Warmup Power 12 W Max
Thruster Operating Power (4 thrusters). 11 W Max
Data Interface RS-422
Performance characteristics are based on customer requirements. As such, they are not representative of component capabilities or limitations.

Envelope Drawing

CuSP-drawing

Flow Schematic

CuSP-schematic