• Electric Propulsion
• FEEP
• Ionic Liquid

The Ionic Liquid Field Emission Electric Propulsion (IL-FEEP) thruster is proposed in this thesis work as propulsion system for small spacecraft platforms.
This thesis work, performed at the micropropulsion laboratory of Sitael S.p.A., involved the preparation and execution of a series of tests aimed at characterizing the operation of the IL-FEEP thruster. A propellant filling system has been developed to fill the internal reservoir of the emitter with propellant in vacuum conditions and two different ionic liquids have been tested. The Time-of-Flight mass spectrometric technique has been used to characterize the beam composition and the analysis of the distribution of emission sites has been carried out by means of an electrostatic probe. The experimental data have been used to estimate the theoretical performance of the thruster.
The results of this thesis work essentially confirm the possibility of utilizing the Ionic Liquid FEEP thruster for CubeSat platforms and contribute towards improvement of the general understanding of the operation of the thruster.