Facilities & Testing Capabilities
Busek provides an extensive test and analysis capability to the government and the commercial aerospace industry.
Download the Facilities & Testing Sheet (5.1 MB PDF).
Capabilities & Services
⇒ Performance Measurement
⇒ Plume Studies
⇒ Qualification and Life Testing
⇒ Material Studies
⇒ Spacecraft Interaction
⇒ Alternate Propellants
⇒ SEM Analysis
⇒ Insulator Erosion Testing
⇒ Atomic Oxygen Material Studies
Xenon
Argon
Neon
Helium
Test Facilities
Busek maintains two of the largest, privately owned propulsion test facilities to provide the vacuum conditions necessary for proper testing of Hall effect thrusters. Our cryogenic, high pumping speed facilities are essential to providing representative space environments for testing Hall thrusters. Our test facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostics, performance measuring and plume instrumentation that are used to optimize Hall thruster designs. The facilities support esting of integrated or component level systems and customer-sponsored testing.
Pumping Speed:
⇒ 90,000 liters/sec for Xe
⇒ Up to 6.0 kW HET Power
Pumping Speed:
⇒ 200,000 liters/sec for Xe
⇒ Up to 20 kW HET Power
Thrust Stands
Busek custom-fabricates equipment for measuring the low levels of thrust produced from various electric and micropropulsion thrusters. For milli-Newton levels of thrust, Busek uses thrust stands adapted from the industry standard NASA style design. Our thrust stands provide real-time thrust measurement and monitoring and in-situ calibration.
For micro-Newton levels of thrust necessary for precise propulsion applications, Busek has developed both a torsional and magnetically levitated thrust stand. The Maglev can test a completely self-contained micropropulsion system (no power or propellant tethers) up to 30 kg total mass. The demonstrated noise of our micropropulsion thrust stands is less than 0.1 μN.
