Preliminary study on a N₂O micro propulsion system and its nozzle flow field

Preliminary scheme and primary design parameters were described for a micro propulsion system used for the attitude control of the spacecraft, which is based on the monopropellant catalytic decomposition of nitrous oxide. The numerical simulation was used to analyze the flow field of inner nozzle and its vacuum plume for 1 N thruster in a vacuum. The results show that the nozzle thrust is 1.041 N, and specific impulse is 1922.7 N·s/kg, which fulfills the requirement and validates the feasibility of design parameters. Theoretical analysis is helpful for the design and manufacture of the test system, as well as the hot-fire test in future.