A propane gas system for satellite attitude control
- Paper ID
IAF-66-147
- author
- company
Space and G. W. Division, Elliott Automation Ltd.
- country
United Kingdom
- year
1966
- abstract
When considering the choice of propellant for a satellite attitude control system, substances stored as liquids under their own vapour pressures and which can be vaporised at low temperatures offer a considerable advantage over simple gases such as nitrogen, argon, etc., which must be stored at high pressures, because a major saving in mass of the storage vessel can be made. BRISCOE, DAY and HASTINGS1-4 have shown that, although no one propellant is superior in all respects, propane, with a specific impulse of 69 sec has the best combination of properties for use in certain satellite attitude control systems. Although other propellants with much higher specific impulses, such as hydrazine, could give a system weight saving relative to propane, these have not yet been demonstrated as suitable for low thrust jets using gas pulses of 10 m/sec or less. It is believed that one of the most simple and reliable systems in the present state of the art can be obtained by the use of propane.