DESIGN OF THE 3-D PRINTED COLD GAS PROPULSION SYSTEMS FOR THE VISORS MISSION

The VISORS mission will observe the Sun’s corona with the goal of collecting data that can shed light on the mechanisms of coronal heating. This will be accomplishedthrough the use of a diffractive telescope. The telescope requires a focal length of 40 meters, which will be achieved by implementing two precisely positioned 6U CubeSats flying in formation. One spacecraft will carry the telescope optics, and the other will carry the detector. The spacecraft have stringent relative positioning requirements in science operations, which must be maintained during 10 second observations. In order to accomplish this relative positioning, a propulsion system capable of providing precise impulses in six orthogonal directions is necessary on board each spacecraft. Due to the varied shapes and sizes of each spacecraft’s respective available payload volume, a different envelope is allotted to each spacecraft’s propulsion system. 3-D printing the propellant tanks, nozzles, and tubing into one structure allows the full available propulsion volumesto be used despite their unusual shapes. This has contributed to the design of two low-cost propulsion systems capable of providing a combined total velocity change of 23 m/s. This paper describes the pertinent mission requirements, propulsion system design methodologies, and expected performance characteristics of the thrusters.