A tanker for "ion" satellites has been created in Russia
S.P.Korolev Samara University has completed the development and conducted tests of a tanker designed to refuel Russian satellite vehicles with ion power plants.
This system will make the refueling algorithm simpler, since there will be no need to remove the tanks, and significantly reduce the time of satellite release and delivery to customers. As specified in the press service of the Samara University, the process of refueling the fuel tanks of satellite vehicles, known to specialists as balloon cylinders, will become cheaper and easier, and the purity of the xenon used will reach 99.9999%, which is very important for the stable functioning of the engines. At the same time, thanks to a special design solution, it will be possible to more accurately control the volume of fuel already pumped into the tanks during refueling. The work on the ion tanker was carried out by specialists from Samara University in the interests of the Progress Rocket and Space Center with the support and active participation of technologists from the Samara Scientific and Production Center. Real work in this direction has been underway since 2022.
A tanker for "ion" satellites has been created in Russia
Now the installation has completed the stage of factory tests, within which all possible modes and emergency situations were worked out. The tests carried out showed that the tanker fully meets the design parameters and is ready for transfer to Progress, where autonomous tests await it, and real refueling of satellites using this installation will begin closer to the autumn of this year.
Max Antonov
