The project advancements have been presented in terms of mission scenarios and preliminary design of the building blocks (cathode, rechargeable tank, fluidic system, diagnostic and testing facilities)
Date: 17 SEPTEMBER 2024
Event location: Tyvak Haedquarter, Turin
Type: Review
BOOST project (Building blOcks for iOdine thruSTers) is going forward!
In September, the whole consortium met the Project Officer and the External Expert at Tyvak International S.r.l. in Turin for the first BOOST Review Meeting of the project.
It has been the occasion to present the first results of the activity done so far, mainly focused on the mission analysis for the rechargeable concept introduced by the project and the preliminary designs of the building blocks for electric propulsion being developed within the project.
A very interesting scenario involving a VLEO mission has been presented, showing that the rechargeability concept can be very useful to guarantee operativity on those orbits. This result is now driving the requirements definition for all the building blocks developed, going from the Cathode to the Rechargeable Tank, the Fluidic Lines, and the Diagnostics and Facilities that will be used for testing the systems. All these components are now in the preliminary design process, as explained by the WP leaders during the meeting.
The work done so far shows very good potential for the outcomes of the project, boosting the use of iodine propellant, the rechargeability concept, the in-orbit refueling option, and the cooperation among European institutions and industries.