Krypton factor observation round. (emphasis added) Most of the electric propulsion systems that I've heard of use xenon. . And Argon costs far less than Krypton. But how close is that to re 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. But how close is that to re Aug 20, 2020 · How much krypton (fuel) is there for the krypton-powered ion thrusters on Starlink satellites and how long does it last? Apr 9, 2015 · The Starlink constellation v1 satellites used Krypton for its ion thrusters. Alibaba shows Krypton at around ~$100 / cubic meter, which is less than a tenth of the of the price volume wise. 3 kg of Krypton based on a total delta-V of 190 m/s and an exhaust velocity of 20,000 m/s. Apr 9, 2015 · The Starlink constellation v1 satellites used Krypton for its ion thrusters. This significantly increases the erosion rate, which will shorten the life of the thruster. Jul 9, 2024 · Think F = ma, where F in this case is the force of the electric field acting on the ion. Xenon is commonly used only because it has a higher performance. 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. 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. Nov 27, 2020 · Starlink satellites use krypton as propellant. To adjust position on orbit, maintain intended altitude, and deorbit, Starlink satellites feature Hall thrusters powered by krypton. Aug 20, 2020 · How much krypton (fuel) is there for the krypton-powered ion thrusters on Starlink satellites and how long does it last? To adjust position on orbit, maintain intended altitude, and deorbit, Starlink satellites feature Hall thrusters powered by krypton. SpaceX is launching Starlink very fast, so they can't wait for a suitable xenon supply to show up. If you change fuels (say from xenon to krypton, which is lighter), but don't change field strengths, then F stays the same, while m decreases, which means a (acceleration on the ion) must be bigger. The information I find is mixed or I 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. This answer roughly estimates 2. Starlink v2 satellites use Argon. May 18, 2019 · For krypton, you need much more energetic electrons than you would for xenon. 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 KryptonPropellant on an SPT-100 Hall Thruster; IEPC-2011-003 which explains that in this study using a SPT-100 Hall Thruster krypton had a lower utilization fraction than xenon. To adjust position on orbit, maintain intended altitude, and deorbit, Starlink satellites feature Hall thrusters powered by krypton. lmvt3nq o3p4 23rxw wnl hoxr 6lorsge ik3h aem osxyp kh