Effects of Catalysts on Hydrazine Monopropellant Thruster Performances

Many monopropellant thrusters use a catalyst for decompose the propellant, hydrazine. The catalyst directly affects the thruster performances and lifetime. Therefore, it is important to confirm that the catalyst is suitable for our thrusters. Until 2002, we used She1l405 catalyst, for satellite RCS thrusters, and H-IIA and M-V launch vehicle upper-stage RCS thrusters. In 2002, however, Shell Chemical Inc. ceased manufacturing She1l405 catalyst and transferred the product to AEROJET, where it was renamed S405. We subsequently investigated the characteristics of AEROJET's S405 catalyst and SOLVAY's KC12GA catalyst, (SOLVAY is a Belgian chemical company, and KC12GA is used for ASTRIUM's thruster) and conducted thruster firing tests using the new catalysts. After conducting, we confirm that the KC12GA catalyst was suitable for our thrusters, and decided to use KC12GA for two satellite programs.