SBIR-STTR Award

Ionfinity proposes to collaborate with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory ane the Aerospace Corporation to design, develop, and demonstrate an innovative ion NANO-THRUSTER for nano-satellite propulsion. The approach is to use the JPL-invented Soft Ionization Membrane nanostructure to efficiently produce ions which are accelerated to high velocities in an electric field. The micromachined propellant tanks, fuel lines and flow sensors developed at the Aerospace Corporation complete the infrastructure of a micro-propulsion system. The proposed nano-thruster is enabling for new generations of micro and nano-satellites. Near-term commercial applications will use the components of the nano-thruster rather than the nano-thruster itself. The Soft Ionization Membrane ionizes nearly 100% of the sample that passes through it without breaking the sample into fragments ("soft ionization"). The Soft Ionization Membrane is a revolutionary advance in production of ion beams. Its immediate application is in the mass spectrometry market where it enables a 50x increase in sensitivity, a 50x reduction in sizeand 10x reduction in cost. In addition to the current $2B/year market for mass spectrometry instruments, the SIM enables a new generation of sensors for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare agents and for narcotics and explosives

Ionfinity together with its partners, the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Aerospace Corporation propose to develop and demonstrate an innovative nano-propulsion system that incorporates a machined electrostatic ion generator that provides direct and complete ionization of propellant gas, the efficient acceleration of ions, a micromachined neutralizing mechanism that prevents spacecraft charging, a compact efficient high voltage power supply, and a micromachined multi-wafer ion engine. In Phase I we demonstrated that the JPL-invented Soft Ionization Membrane is suitable to ionize propellant gasses and we have refined the design of the ion thruster. The nanothruster itself will be built and demonstrated in Phase II.