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Hall-effect thruster
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=== Non-Soviet designs === Soviet-built thrusters were introduced to the West in 1992 after a team of electric propulsion specialists from NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]], [[Glenn Research Center]], and the [[Air Force Research Laboratory]], under the support of the [[Ballistic Missile Defense Organization]], visited Russian laboratories and experimentally evaluated the SPT-100 (i.e., a 100 mm diameter SPT thruster). Hall thrusters continue to be used on Russian spacecraft and have also flown on European and American spacecraft. [[Space Systems/Loral]], an American commercial satellite manufacturer, now flies Fakel SPT-100's on their GEO communications spacecraft. Since in the early 1990s, Hall thrusters have been the subject of a large number of research efforts throughout the United States, India, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia (with many smaller efforts scattered in various countries across the globe). Hall thruster research in the US is conducted at several government laboratories, universities and private companies. Government and government funded centers include NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]], NASA's [[Glenn Research Center]], the [[Air Force Research Laboratory]] (Edwards AFB, California), and [[The Aerospace Corporation]]. Universities include the [[US Air Force Institute of Technology]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.afit.edu/PA/news.cfm?article=101&a=news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222022459/http://www.afit.edu/PA/news.cfm?article=101&a=news |archive-date=22 February 2014 |title=AFIT SPASS Lab Achieves '(AF) Blue Glow' |publisher=Air Force Institute of Technology |date=13 November 2007}}</ref> [[University of Michigan]], [[Stanford University]], [[The Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], [[Princeton University]], [[Michigan Technological University]], and [[Georgia Tech]]. In 2023, students at the [[Olin College of Engineering]] demonstrated the first undergraduate designed steady-state hall thruster.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 December 2023 |title=A year of firsts for electric propulsion |url=https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/year-in-review/a-year-of-firsts-for-electric-propulsion/ |access-date=11 November 2024 |website=Aerospace America |language=en-US}}</ref> A considerable amount of development is being conducted in industry, such as [[IHI Corporation]] in Japan, [[Aerojet]] and [[Busek]] in the US, [[SNECMA]] in France, [[LAJP]] in Ukraine, [[SITAEL]] in Italy, and [[Satrec Initiative]] in South Korea. [[File:Orbion Hall Effect Thruster.jpg|left|thumb|Hall-effect thruster module with propellant tank and control unit visible.]] The first use of Hall thrusters on lunar orbit was the European Space Agency (ESA) lunar mission [[SMART-1]] in 2003. Hall thrusters were first demonstrated on a western satellite on the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) [[STEX]] spacecraft, which flew the Russian D-55. The first American Hall thruster to fly in space was the [[Busek]] BHT-200 on [[TacSat-2]] technology demonstration spacecraft. The first flight of an American Hall thruster on an operational mission, was the [[Aerojet]] BPT-4000, which launched August 2010 on the military [[Advanced Extremely High Frequency]] GEO communications satellite. At 4.5 kW, the BPT-4000 is also the highest power Hall thruster ever flown in space. Besides the usual stationkeeping tasks, the BPT-4000 is also providing orbit-raising capability to the spacecraft. The [[X-37B]] has been used as a testbed for the Hall thruster for the AEHF satellite series.<ref name="ajrdpr20150701">{{cite press release |url=http://www.rocket.com/article/aerojet-rocketdyne%E2%80%99s-modified-xr-5-hall-thruster-demonstrates-successful-orbit-operation |title=Aerojet Rocketdyne's Modified XR-5 Hall Thruster Demonstrates Successful On-Orbit Operation |publisher=Aerojet Rocketdyne |date=1 July 2015 |access-date=11 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709024047/http://www.rocket.com/article/aerojet-rocketdyne%E2%80%99s-modified-xr-5-hall-thruster-demonstrates-successful-orbit-operation |archive-date=9 July 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Several countries worldwide continue efforts to qualify Hall thruster technology for commercial uses. The [[SpaceX]] [[Starlink]] constellation, the largest satellite constellation in the world, uses Hall-effect thrusters. Starlink initially used krypton gas, but with its V2 satellites swapped to argon due to its cheaper price and widespread availability.<ref name="sn-20230228">{{cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=28 February 2023 |url=https://spacenews.com/spacex-launches-first-upgraded-starlink-satellites/ |title=SpaceX Launches First Upgraded Starlink Satellites |work=[[SpaceNews]] |access-date=5 December 2023 }}</ref> The first deployment of Hall thrusters beyond Earth's sphere of influence was the [[Psyche (spacecraft)|''Psyche'' spacecraft]], launched in 2023 towards the [[asteroid belt]] to explore [[16 Psyche]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Briley |date=17 October 2023 |title=NASA's Psyche spacecraft will blaze an unusual blue trail across the solar system |url=https://www.popsci.com/science/nasa-psyche-hall-thrusters/ |website=Popular Science |access-date=17 October 2023 }}</ref>
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