Development Status of Iridium Catalyst for Hydrazine Decomposition

A development of hydrazine decomposition catalyst for monopropellant thruster has been performed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute(KARI). The goal of this development is to product a catalyst showing the equivalent performance with space-proven catalysts. Catalyst production and physical/chemical analysis were conducted by Chonnam National University and the analysis result was compared with the result of other catalysts and our own specification. Using the developed prototype catalyst, short firing test was performed in a reactor to verify basic performance of catalyst. After the successful reactor test, hot firing tests were carried out in atmospheric and vacuum condition using 5N thruster to verify durability and safety of catalyst. In this paper, the catalyst development status will be presented.