Particularities of ignition of the non-self-sustained discharge with a thermoemission cathode in crossed fields

The experimental results of use of a thermoemission cathode as the cathode-compensator when working with the Hall electroreactive thruster are presented. The operation particularities of the thruster with the thermoemission cathode are investigated, and the technical requirements for the cathodes in use are adjusted. Data making it possible to specify the technical requirements on the power supplies for the Hall reactive thrusters (HRTs) are obtained. The study of the discharge ignition process in the crossed fields inside the Hall electroreactive thruster shows that, at the moment of ignition, the total discharge current may exceed by 10–20 times that of the stationary regime; here, the value and the duration of the current “spike” depend directly on the emissive ability of the cathode-compensator. The influence of the magnetic field value in the accelerator channel on the ignition potential is discovered.