3D-Printed Ion Thruster Will Help Democratize Nanosatellite Space Hardware

3D-Printed Ion Thruster "Will Help Democratize Nanosatellite Space Hardware"
Future CubeSats could be powered by ion thrusters 3D-printed at a fraction of the cost of classic cleanroom designs.
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A pair of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias (EIC) have published a paper validating the design of a novel propulsion source for nanosatellites — created on a 3D printer.
"This study reports the design, fabrication, and characterization of novel, low-cost, additively manufactured, miniaturized, multiplexed electrospray sources with zinc oxide nanowire (ZnONW)-based nanofluidics that produce, in both polarities, pure ions from ionic liquids," the researchers explain in the paper's abstract. "The emitting electrodes are 3D-printed using either SS 316L via binder jetting or FunToDo Industrial Blend resin via vat polymerization. The extractor electrode is 3D-printed using SS 316L via binder jetting."

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