ESPET is a multi-scale engineering tool

Recently, the first electrospray thruster was launched and successfully operated in space—producing precision propulsion with very high electrical efficiency. This is accomplished by electrostatically extracting charged particles from low vapor pressure liquids, thereby generating an accelerated, electrically charged spray.

Our work supports efforts to adapt this highly promising form of space propulsion to small satellites such as CubeSats. Electrospray thrusters are recognized as a highly promising technology for extending the capabilities and the mission of small satellites. SSI is working to develop design software for NASA, called the Electrospray Propulsion Engineering Toolkit (ESPET), with the objective to accelerate the development of arrays of electrospray thrusters for increased thrust and thrust density.

ESPET is a multi-scale engineering tool that extends experimental and detailed high-level physics characterization of microfluidic components to full-scale ESP microfluidic network performance.

To request free ESPET access, click on the technical contact, below, and be sure to use your business or academic email address. Please provide information about your work with electrospray and your interest in our tool. If you are a student, please provide the name of your advisor.