spacex - Why will Starlink satellites use krypton instead of xenon …
But krypton can be bought at just one-tenth the cost of xenon, which matters if a company wants to fuel thousands of satellites. I've found wildly different price quotes for the two: Xenon is as …
What performance specification would be lower for Krypton than …
May 18, 2019 · For krypton, you need much more energetic electrons than you would for xenon. This significantly increases the erosion rate, which will shorten the life of the thruster.
Does Krypton or Xenon produce more thrust in a Hall-effect …
Dec 21, 2022 · I am trying to figure out if Xenon or Krypton produces more thrust for a given weight flow rate of fuel when the engine operates at the same discharge voltages. The …
physics - Why might krypton have a lower utilization fraction than ...
May 31, 2020 · 4 A comment below Why will Starlink satellites use krypton instead of xenon for electric propulsion? links to the 2011 preprint A Performance Comparison of Xenon and …
What are the tradeoffs in propellant choices for ion/electric based ...
Jul 9, 2024 · Think F = ma, where F in this case is the force of the electric field acting on the ion. If you change fuels (say from xenon to krypton, which is lighter), but don't change field strengths, …
spacex - How much krypton do Starlink satellites carry when they …
Nov 27, 2020 · Starlink satellites use krypton as propellant. This answer roughly estimates 2.3 kg of Krypton based on a total delta-V of 190 m/s and an exhaust velocity of 20,000 m/s. But how …
ion thruster - Space Exploration Stack Exchange
Jun 2, 2021 · Krypton is far more common (~1 ppm, over 10x that of xenon), and is produced with similar strategies, so it is a lot cheaper than xenon, at 290 USD per kilogram. SpaceX is …
What is the fate of Krypton exhaust from Starlink thrusters?
Jun 18, 2025 · If the thrusters have a specific impulse of 1500s, that means the krypton atoms are traveling roughly 15 km/s when they exit the nozzle, which exceeds the escape velocity of earth.
How much krypton is stored on a Starlink satellite?
Aug 20, 2020 · How much krypton (fuel) is there for the krypton-powered ion thrusters on Starlink satellites and how long does it last?
How much does it cost to fill an ion thuster with Xenon for a ...
Apr 9, 2015 · The Starlink constellation v1 satellites used Krypton for its ion thrusters. Starlink v2 satellites use Argon. Alibaba shows Krypton at around ~$100 / cubic meter, which is less than …