3.0 kW Laboratory Hall Thruster

This thruster was built in 2003 specifically for studies of segmented electrode effects on plasma flow and performance and scaling of these effects to high power Hall thrusters. Its design provides easy access to the channel by various plasma diagnostics. Our initial results of ion flux and ion energy measurements showed that this thruster is capable to produce state-of-the-art performance and, at the same time, is a very convenient research tool.