SETS a company that specializes in high-performance electric propulsion technology and develops the next generation of thrusters and space propulsion systems for small satellites has introduced a new Power Processing Unit for Hall Thruster.

The Power Processing Unit (PPU) 500 from SETS is a power management equipment intended for LEO satellite applications and designed according to space standards. It transforms onboard voltage to power a Hall Thruster from 200W to 500 W and controls Xenon Feed System. It is based on a modular design that allows customers to choose only the mission-specific functionality and redundancy level required, thereby optimizing mass, power, and volume.

The Power Processing Unit is designed as a part of the Electric Propulsion System (EPS) SPS-40, which consists of an ST-40 Hall Thruster and Xenon Feed System (XFS). PPU consists of 3 main subsystems: Thruster and XFS power parts and the main controller. The main controller as a part of PPU provides fully autonomous operations in any operational mode, and it is designed to be a failure-tolerant unit. It performs operating algorithms, controls all power converters, measurements, and provides communication with the onboard computer.

The XFS power part is intended to control low-voltage power supplies for sensors, heaters, valves, and measurement circuits which are connected to the supply of xenon. The thruster power part controls the converters which transform the onboard power to anode and cathodes using power stabilization.

The PPU 500 has an efficiency of up to 94 %. It requires an input voltage of 22 to 36 V and supports CAN or RS-485 interface. The PPU uses a microcontroller-based system with an ARM core and has an input overcurrent shutdown feature.

Click here to learn more about the PPU 500 from SETS.

Click here to learn about Power Processing Units for Spacecraft Thrusters.