Apolonio Ordaz Resume
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Electric propulsion · PEPPR · In progress

Building a Hall-effect thruster, the kind of engine that moves satellites.

I’m working with PEPPR to manufacture and integrate HET-01, a sub-kilowatt electric thruster. The vacuum test setup is ready and the magnets are characterized. The first full firing is next.

Role
Manufacturing & integration
Team
PEPPR
Propellant
Krypton
Status
In manufacturing
Quick recruiter overview
V05 CAD rendering of the PEPPR HET-01 Hall-effect thruster with an annular channel and external electromagnets

The challenge

Turn a model-based design for a sub-kilowatt Hall thruster into real hardware that can be fired and measured.

What I’m doing

Manufacturing and integrating the thruster hardware, alongside a team that prepared the vacuum test setup and characterized the magnets.

Where it stands

Test-ready: the vacuum chamber is prepared and the magnetic system is characterized. Integration and the first full firing are next.

660 Wdesign power
300 Vdesign discharge voltage
39 mNdesign thrust
59 mmchannel diameter

Power, voltage, and thrust are targets from the design model, not measured results.

What is a Hall-effect thruster?

A Hall-effect thruster is an electric rocket engine used to move and steer satellites in space. Instead of burning fuel, it uses electricity to turn a gas into plasma and fire it out at very high speed. The push is gentle, about the weight of a few paper clips, but it’s extremely fuel-efficient and can run for thousands of hours.

Cross-section of a Hall-effect thruster: krypton gas enters through the anode, trapped electrons ionize it near the magnetic field, and krypton ions are accelerated out of the channel while the cathode supplies electrons. Electromagnet Electromagnet Anode (+) Krypton gas in e⁻ Kr⁺ ions out Cathode e⁻ Thrust
Simplified cross-section. The real channel is a ring, so this shape wraps all the way around the thruster.
  1. 01

    Feed the gas

    Krypton flows in through the anode at the back of a ring-shaped channel.

  2. 02

    Make plasma

    Electrons from the cathode get trapped by the magnetic field and knock electrons off the krypton atoms, turning them into ions.

  3. 03

    Push it out

    An electric field fires the ions out of the channel at about 15 km/s (design value), pushing the spacecraft the other way.

Why krypton?
Far cheaper and easier to get than xenon, the traditional choice, at the cost of some efficiency.
Benchmark
Sized to be similar to the SPT-70, a flight-proven Hall thruster.
Test facility
STELLA vacuum chamber, Advanced Technology Lab.
Cathode
Heaterless hollow cathode that supplies the electrons.

How it’s coming together

  1. HET-01 V05 CAD assembly
    01

    Size

    Sized the channel and power level with a Hall-thruster scaling model.

  2. Vacuum-chamber test setup with fittings, feedthroughs, and instrumentation
    02

    Prepare

    Got the vacuum chamber and test setup ready for firing.

  3. Early electromagnet assembly with three copper-wound coils between steel plates
    03

    Characterize

    Measured the magnetic system before full operation.

  4. 04

    Build & fire

    Manufacturing and integrating the hardware for the first full-thruster test.

Skills I’m using

Full engineering write-up

I am working with PEPPR to manufacture and integrate a sub-kilowatt Hall-effect thruster. The full design has not yet fired, but the team has prepared the vacuum chamber and test setup and characterized the magnet system ahead of full-thruster testing.

01

Development status

Build hardware, verify subsystems, then test the integrated thruster

ManufacturingMechanical hardware is in production and integration is underway.
Test readinessThe vacuum chamber and test setup have been prepared.
MagneticsThe magnetic system has been characterized before full operation.
Vacuum-chamber test setup with fittings, feedthroughs, instrumentation, and the chamber work surface
Vacuum-chamber test setup prepared for Hall-effect thruster development.
Early Hall-effect thruster electromagnet assembly with three copper-wound coils between steel plates
Early electromagnet assembly used during magnetic-system development.
Next milestone: complete integration and conduct the first full-thruster test.
02

First-pass design point

Scaling-law model used to size the initial concept

660 WModel discharge power
300 VModel discharge voltage
39 mNModel thrust

The initial geometry uses a sub-kilowatt Hall-thruster scaling approach: a 59 mm mean channel diameter, 14 mm channel width, and 25 mm channel length. These are model-based design inputs, not measured performance results.

03

What the project is testing

From a credible design model to an operating propulsion system

The work connects propulsion sizing, magnetic-field geometry, component manufacturing, and vacuum-facility preparation. Full-thruster operation will validate how the manufactured system performs as an integrated assembly.