Design and Fabrication of MEMS-Based Solid Propellant Microthrusters Array

A solid propellant microthruster array consists of three parts (five layers) was designed to form propulsion system of nanosatellite. The layers of the array were fabricated by different MEMS technique respectively. Then the array was assembled by adhesive bonding (H70E thermal epoxy). An initial test was operated with the ignition test stand composed of high speed video system, electronic power source, and oscilloscope. A constant voltage was applied to the igniters through two probes contact with the pad of ignition circuitry. The test indicates that the microthruster array can be ignited under 15V.