Space Propulsion Lab
Experimental facilities include two 1-meter-diameter vacuum chambers with associated pumping and thrust-measurement equipment. Microwave sources from 2.45 GHz to 20 GHz are available with peak power up 450 kW. Optical and plasma probe diagnostics are used for plasma characterization.
Our experimental facilities also allow for full-scale testing of small spacecraft in a low Earth orbit (LEO)–type environment. The facility is comprised of a vacuum chamber capable of thermal cycling, a plasma source capable of producing streaming ions (1–4 eV) and low-energy electrons (~0.1 eV), and a host of diagnostic tools. Quality assurance tests can be formed at full-scale on 3-U CubeSats (and potentially larger) to assess system or component performance in a realistic plasma environment.
Key Faculty: Sven Bilén
Facilities and Labs
- Adverse Environment Rotor Test Stand
- Aeroacoustics Facilities
- Air Vehicle Intelligence and Autonomy Lab
- Control and Analysis of Stochastic Systems Lab
- High-performance Computing Cluster Facility
- Indoor Flight Research Lab
- Robot Ethics and Aerial Vehicles Lab
- Rotorcraft Flight Simulator Facilities
- Sailplane Lab
- Space Propulsion Lab
- Structures Labs
- Student Space Programs Lab
- Turbomachinery Aero-Heat Transfer Lab
- Water Channel/Water Tunnel
- Wind Tunnels
- Wind Turbine Field Test Facility
