The electric rocket propulsion system based on iodine thrusters with closed drift of electrons

The paper analyses iodide as a propellant for electric thruster with closed electrons drift and compares the iodide thruster performance with that of the thrusters that use xenon as their propellant. It demonstrates the advantages of the iodide Stationary Plasma Thruster (SPT) system in comparison with xenon thruster systems. It provides the results of the first tests of iodide SPTs and the rationale for the use of iodide as the propellant for high power thrusters.